Ok, why would the guy’s commanding officer be relieved if he had nothing to do with it? What’s that saying….. people in extreme situations do things they wouldn’t ordinarily do. I have never been to war, but I wonder how whacked out these guys are after 15 month tours, home for not long enough, back for another 15 month tour….. I can’t imagine what it’s like. And when you’re fighting an enemy that doesn’t wear a uniform, how do you know who to shoot and who not to shoot? Who to trust and who not to trust? I imagine you trust no one. I don’t know if these guys are guilty or not…..I’m just saying I can’t imagine what it’s like for these men and women who are over there.

By JEFFRY SCOTT
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Winder - The mother of a Georgia soldier charged this week with the murder of an Iraqi man said Saturday she believes her son was “just following orders as far as I know.”

Army Specialist Christopher P. Shore, 25, of Winder, and Sgt. 1st Class Trey A Corrales of San Antonio, Texas, were charged in the alleged premeditated killing of the unidentified man on June 23 in an area near Kirkuk, Iraq, about 155 miles north of Baghdad.

They were charged after soldiers in their unit reported them to military authorities, the Army said. Shore and Corrales are assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, which is part of the 25th Infantry Division based in Hawaii.

Speaking to the press for the first time, Shore’s mother, Debra Kessler, said she has not talked to her son or Army officials since he was charged Wednesday, but she plans to hire a civilian attorney to defend him.

“I love my son and I stand behind him,” Kessler said. “We are doing everything in our power to help him.” She has set up fund in her son’s name at Bank of America for public contributions to his defense.

The soldier’s commanding officer - Lt. Col. Michael Browder - was relieved of his command in connection with the investigation. Browder is not a suspect and has not been charged, base spokesman Lt. Col. Mike Donnelly said in a news release.

Col. Donnelly said by e-mail Friday from Iraq he does not believe Shore has yet been been assigned an Army attorney. Col. Donnelly said Shore and Corrales now have limited duties and remain on forward operating bases, but they are not being held in confinement.

He declined to give further details because the case is under investigation by the United States Army Criminal Investigation Division. The Army Times reported that five soldiers in the 25th Infantry Division, including Shore and Corrales, have been accused of murdering Iraqis in separate incidents since April.

Shore and Corrales are scouts who arrived with their unit in Iraq between July and August 2006, according to the newspaper. Kessler would not confirm how long her son has been in Iraq. She said she talked to him by e-mail - “but only rarely.”

In Winder, a small town about 50 miles northwest of downtown Atlanta, few people seemed to know Saturday that a soldier from their town had been accused of murder in Iraq.

At the local American Legion Post, Melvin H. Webb, a 66-year-old Vietnam veteran, said he heard the news reports, and it didn’t surprise him that an American soldier had been charged with murder in Iraq.

“He was trained to kill, and sent over there to kill, and he killed,” Webb said. “Sounds like he was just following orders. That’s why so many of our soldier are dying in Iraq. Because they’re being told not to shoot. Because they’re afraid to shoot.”