Soldier-Sisters To Remain In The U.S.

Michelle, Rachel, and Charity Witmer (l to r)

LINK
MADISON, Wis. (Reuters) - The soldier-sisters of a Wisconsin military policewoman killed while serving in Iraq, said on Tuesday they had decided not to return to Iraq to serve out combat duty with their Wisconsin National Guard units.

Rachel and Charity Witmer, who returned home to bury their sister, said they were swayed, in part, by the possibility that their highly publicized dilemma could make them targets in Iraq and endanger their comrades. ...

Michelle Witmer, who was also a specialist in Rachel's unit, was killed when a convoy in which she was riding was attacked in an April 9 ambush near Baghdad.

Their unit's tour of duty was recently extended by 120 days, an outcome of the military being stretched by conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Before the military had informed the Witmer family that the sisters did not have to return to Iraq under its bereavement policy, John Witmer, the sisters' father, said they should not have to go back because the family had "sacrificed enough." The appeal prompted an outpouring of sympathy.

The sisters' commanders in Iraq have asked that they not return because of their high visibility, a National Guard spokesman said.

"A decision to return to Iraq could expose our fellow soldiers to increased danger, and that we would not do," the sisters' statement said.

Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Tim Donovan said suitable reassignments were being sought, which could include bases in Wisconsin. The Witmer family lives in New Berlin, Wisconsin, near Milwaukee.
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This is a very sad story and I mean no disrespect to the family, but aren't the reasons provided by the military for Charity and Rachel not going back to Iraq kind of hard to believe? They were advised against returning because of their "high visibility" (which) "could result in a danger to their fellow soldiers."
Are we really supposed to believe that these young women would be hunted down because of the publicity? How on earth could this be done?
Maybe I'm missing something, but couldn't the military just say the family has lost one child to the war already, so for humanitarian reasons the women won't be going back?

Comments

[Cyn]

I think the general agreement here is that the government "cooked up" the reason--falling back on a protocol when 5 Navy men--all brothers were killed on a ship dueing WWII. The family lost it every son.
But it's just playing out strangely. The quote from the girls sounds "modified," I dunno.:sigh:

[whitesquirrel]

It all sounds a bit "Saving Private Ryan" to me. I can't imagine that they'd get that much publicity to make them a target surely. It's no doubt been done as the family have suffered so much, but that maybe wasn't exciting enough for the media (or am I just being cynical).