Episode 12 - LaVena Johnson: A Military Death and the Quest for the Truth

LaVena Johnson was 19 years old when she died on July 19th 2005. She was a black, female Private First Class in the US Army. Despite the glaring evidence that suggested otherwise, the US Army ruled LaVena’s death as a suicide. This episode explores this evidence and also looks at the uphill battle the Johnson family have been fighting for the past 15 years. 

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PETITION TO REOPEN LAVENA JOHNSON’S CASE:

https://www.change.org/p/u-s-criminal-investigative-command-for-the-army-reopen-lavena-johnson-s-case?recruiter=1010875944&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial&recruited_by_id=f50d5320-f382-11e9-b61f-6f553140897e&utm_content=fht-22621650-en-us%3Av2

CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES: PETITION FOR A BILL OF RIGHTS FOR BEREAVED MILITARY FAMILIES:

https://www.petition2congress.com/ctas/bill-rights-bereaved-military-families

(this petition requires a US zip-code, if you are not from the US you can use 90015 (LA) or 10001 (NYC)).

Sources used in this episode:

The Silent Truth Documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=16&v=5HGhaiJZNmc&feature=emb_logo

The Facebook Group Dedicated to Finding Lavena Johnson: https://www.facebook.com/groups/190880771002636/

https://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/10-years-later-soldiers-family-still-grieves-and-questions-armys-version-her-death#stream/0

https://thehueandcry.com/lavena-johnson/

https://thesource.com/2014/01/21/justice-for-lavena-johnson-raped-murdered-or-suicide-the-evidence-says-one-thing-u-s-military-says-another/

https://now.org/read-this/is_there_an_army_cover_up_of_rape_and_mu/#:~:text=Is%20There%20an%20Army%20Cover%2DUp%20of,and%20Murder%20of%20Women%20Soldiers%3F&text=Ann%20Wright%20writes%20of%20deaths,'%20and%20then%20added%20'suicide.

https://www.snopes.com/news/2018/07/18/questions-linger-decade-private-lavena-johnsons-death/

https://www.snopes.com/news/2018/07/18/questions-linger-decade-private-lavena-johnsons-death/

https://thehueandcry.com/tina-priest/

https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93493468?storyId=93493468&t=1593014693548

https://fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/IF10899.pdf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Wright

https://www.donaldwatkins.com/post/the-murder-of-pfc-lavena-johnson-part-3

https://theintercept.com/2018/11/19/civilian-casualties-us-war-on-terror/