One of the people profiled in the story is Katy Helvenston, the mother of 38-year-old Scott Helvenston, who was killed on that day in Fallujah. JEREMY SCAHILL: I was very diligent in trying to get Blackwater to make any comment. The suit alleges that there were six guards available that day, but McQuown intervened and ordered only the four to be sent. Its Departing Leader Recalls the Battle. As always, click on the title of the post above. More than 428 private contractors have been killed to date in Iraq, and US taxpayers are footing almost the entire compensation bill to their families. . The man heading the training was Justin McQuown, nicknamed Shrek, after the green ogre movie cartoon character. They had breakfast, lunch, and dinner with us. Helvenston v. Blackwater Security - Alchetron, the free social encyclopedia v. Blackwater Security is the lawsuit for wrongful death filed by the families of the four contractors for Blackwater Security (since renamed Academi ) murdered in the 31 March 2004 Fallujah ambush. Every dollar makes a differencein fact, gets doubled! PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: I was going to ask him. But Katy mentioned the name of a guy named Justin McQuown, and I think its important to kind of back up for a second and explain who he is, because its a key part of this lawsuit. But three days before the deposition, Miles says, Blackwater hired Potter up, flew him to Washington where its my understanding he met with Blackwater representatives and their lawyers. But then things started to get strange. This is about holding Blackwater accountable and about creating accountable and sending a message to other private military firms operating over there. Unfortunately, what they didnt know was that there was a much safer route that took them around the north side of Fallujah. Helvenston et al. We will finish the job. Brig. Blackwater seems to understand money. They were standing outside our rooms when we got up in the morning. It was about what happened to Scotty and Jerry and Mike and Wesley. freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ Ill only be away from my kids for a couple of months. Thats why he chose Blackwater, she recalls. According to the suit, McQuown lacked the credentials of Helvenston and other ex-SEALs. Helvenston's great-great-uncle was Secretary of War Elihu Root. ' Those were some of the last words Helvenston would ever write. He thought that was a really funny thing to and he was so glib and just blew it off. What theyre trying to do is to say, Lookwe can do anything we want and not be held accountable. [6] Hidden Potential Official Site. The suit further alleges that McQuown intervened and ordered only a four-man team be sent, although six were available, the other two remaining to perform clerical duties . STUDENT: My question is in regards to private military contractors. But, anyway, thats another story. And he came up to Scotts room a couple days before Scott was murdered and got into an altercation, and he took Scotts gun away from him. The suit further alleges that McQuown intervened and ordered only a four-man team be sent, although six were available, the other two remaining to perform clerical duties. John Potter had recently teamed Blackwater up with a Kuwaiti business called Regency Hotel and Hospital Company, and together the firms won a security contract with Eurest Support Services (ESS), guarding convoys transporting kitchen equipment to the US military. And Scott wrote in this email to Blackwater, that I think [that my team leader] felt that there was a hidden agenda. And she was told that they would have to sue Blackwater to get that information. This is a billion-dollar industry, Jackson said in October 2004. And they said contractor, and I was thinking of maybe they were working on the pipelines, oil lines or something. Helvenston et al. v. Blackwater Security | Military Wiki | Fandom He spent twelve years in the SEALs, four of them as an instructor, and then tried his luck with Hollywood. None of that was true, says attorney Callahan. Justin Shreck. Thats why this case is being watched so closely by other firms operating in Iraq. But on March 12, 2004, Blackwater and Regency signed a subcontract, which specified security provisions identical to the original except for one word: armored. Blackwater deleted it from the contract. They didnt find out that they were lied to until they got into Baghdad and basically had no option but to go forward. He was told at that time that he was not going to be doing security for the ambassador, Paul Bremer, and he was going to escort a convoy of trucks to pick up kitchen equipment. Was this months later, weeks later? You can read our Privacy Policy here. And I had actually flown up there one weekend and spent the weekend with them. [Blackwater] then flew him to Jordan for ultimate deployment in the Middle East, Miles says. MARTIN SMITH: By the time the press arrived, a mob had set the cars on fire. Previously, Justin was a Research Engineer at L una Innovations and also held positions at AeroVironment, Stryten Manufacturing, GE Healthcare, TopRank Marketing, Emerson, General Electric. Once the cover boy on a Navy calendar, he also had several workout videos. Blackwater sent my son and the other three into Falluja knowing that there was a very good possibility this could happen, says Katy Helvenston, the mother of 38-year-old Scott Helvenston, whose charred body was hung from the Falluja bridge. Marc Miles, why is this lawsuit groundbreaking? The suit alleges that Blackwater trainer Justin "Shrek" McQuown resented Helvenston and deliberately reassigned Helvenston to the team that was ambushed. We had argued about him going over there, she recalls. He spent 12 years in the Navy SEALs until he left in 1994 as an E-6 (Quartermaster First Class).Helvenston began training at Blackwater USA's facilities in March 2004, and developed a personal conflict with head trainer Justin "Shrek" McQuown. Im driven and Im not going to quit. JUAN GONZALEZ: Id like to ask Marc Miles, on the day then that these four Blackwater employees are killed, theyre sent into Fallujah. MARC MILES: Thats correct. I believe that we should have gone into Afghanistan, but I never believed we should have gone into Iraq, and Scott bought the whole story about Saddam Hussein being involved with Al Qaeda and all that. This was not done, according to Miles, so as to pad Blackwaters bottom line and to impress ESS with Blackwaters efficiency in order to win more contracts. This was not a roadside bomb, it was not any other explosive device. And so, did they assume the risk? KATY HELVENSTON: Yeah, and all this fresh bark that had just been laid was just flying all over the place. And, in fact, the first day that they set out, they were so lost and it was getting late that they ended up staying at an army base on the east side of Fallujah. Is he okay? And they said they didnt know. The suit alleges that Blackwater trainer Justin "Shrek" McQuown resented Helvenston and deliberately reassigned Helvenston to the team that was ambushed. People should understand, Scotty Helvenston wasnt even in Iraq for more than 48 hours before he was sent to Fallujah. I didnt want to watch it. Instead, this team was sent out without the required equipment and personnel by those in charge at Blackwater.. Not so, say the families of the four men and their lawyers. Copyright (c) 2023 The Nation Company LLC, By signing up, you confirm that you are over the age of 16 and, agree to receive occasional promotional offers for programs that support. And five seconds after I connected to that line, Erik Prince was on the phone. The men got lost on the evening of March 30 and eventually found a Marine base near Falluja where they slept for a few hours. Had they had a rear gunner, had they had armored vehicles, a very strong case could be made that they never would have been killed. JUAN GONZALEZ: Marc Miles, I would like to ask you, obviously there have been about 425, now, Americans who have been working for contractors who have been killed in Iraq. AMY GOODMAN: An excerpt from _Frontline_s program Private Warriors, documentary on the role of private military contractors working in Iraq. Hes protecting Paul Bremer. But the day went on, and all of a sudden it was Blackwater. We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work. Since the Falluja incident, and also because of it, Blackwater has emerged as one of the most successful and profitable security contractors operating in Iraq. These men were told that theyd be operating in armored vehicles. They told them that they would be operating in teams of no less than six, where you would have three individuals in each vehicle a driver, a navigator and a rear gunner who has a 180-degree view of the rear to protect from behind. I did want to ask you, Katy Helvenston, about the email that we got from Blackwater, from Chris Taylor, who said, Out of respect for the families and the integrity of the judicial proceedings, I cannot join you. Your response? The families of four private security contractors killed in Fallujah in March 2004 have filed a ground-breaking lawsuit charging Blackwater USA with fraud and wrongful death. AMY GOODMAN: Were talking about a groundbreaking lawsuit against Blackwater on behalf of the families of the four contractors who were killed on March 31, 2004 in Fallujah, the famous photographs of two of them hanging from the bridge over the Euphrates. Theyre angrytheyre saying, Let me go over,' Blackwater spokesman Chris Bertelli told the Virginian-Pilot ten days after the killings, adding that applications to work for Blackwater had increased considerably in that time. Scott Helvenston Net Worth & Bio/Wiki 2018: Facts Which You Must To Know! navy seal scott helvenston death video - brew7-coffee.com And they, at that time, asked specifically for the incident report and a copy of the contract. Did they assume the risk? and State Department official that Blackwater hired up, was in the country of Jordan announcing that Blackwater was interested in essentially farming out its services to the highest bidder to engage in overt combat missions. AMY GOODMAN: Did they say it was Fallujah? Helvenston v. Blackwater Security Wikipedia Republished // WIKI 2 A monthly newsletter on the global fight for reproductive freedom. So Donna and I think the check was like it was quite a bit of money. In Defense of Blackwater's Private Contractors - Daily Kos You dont just stick a Navy Seal on a brand new team with guys and send them into a combat zone. Scott Helvenston was a walking ad for the military. And it all stems back to the point: if these folks had known that Blackwater was going to cut costs and was going to not provide them with everything that they were promised, would they have still done it? Justin received a Bachelor of Science degree from . Im gonna take care of you. You know, just stuff like that, which obviously wasnt true. Also with us, attorney Marc Miles, who joins us from studio in Irvine, California. But he says he was, quote, very manipulative, duplicative, immature and unprofessional.. I was going to I pick up the phone and say, Mr. Secretary, Ive got an interesting question. Lay out this story. We rely on contributions from you, our viewers and listeners to do our work. This month marks the two-year anniversary of the first US siege of Fallujah, in which at least 600 Iraqis were killed. units for the United States, which doesnt do a lot of good over there. }); In the Oval Office the killings were taken as a challenge to Americas resolve, according to the Los Angeles Times. K.B.R. We will not be intimidated, he said. The killing was March 31. HAROLD VIDINHA: The first thing that came up was a camera bouncing toward this SUV, and it went right into the car. And when we come back from break, Katy, I want to ask you if Scott felt ready to go out on that day, March 31, 2004. So I sent Blackwater about 23 specific questions, and from that first email that Chris Taylor sent me, I never heard back. V. Blackwater Security - Facts & Allegations. Justin's ethnicity is Caucasian, whose political affiliation is unknown; and religious views are listed as Christian. A few nights before Scott was killed, and actually the night before he left Kuwait to go to Baghdad, he sent an email to the owner, president and upper management of Blackwater, and the subject of that email was extreme unprofessionalism. And in this email, which we have, he is complaining about Justin McQuown, who he refers to as Justin Shrek. Scott Helvenston apparently thought his actual name was Shrek and was referring to him as Justin Shrek throughout the email.
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