In her own words

Barbara Allen reports from the trial of her husband’s accused killer Editor’s note: Barbara Allen, the widow of 1st Lt. Louis Allen, is in Fort Bragg, N.C., where she is attending the court-martial of the man charged with killing her husband during his service in Iraq. She wrote the article below, the second in a series reporting on the trial as it unfolds. Lt. Allen, a Chester, N.Y. native, lived in Milford, and taught science at George F. Baker High School in Tuxedo, N.Y. By Barbara Allen I’ve made several attempts to put pen to paper over these past two weeks. Today, in the pre-dawn stillness of a Saturday morning, I finally find myself able to reflect on the events occurring in and out of the courtroom at Fort Bragg. Inside the courtroom I have a front-row seat to a historic case in the military. How the military reacts to the verdict of this case will depend I suppose on the recognition of what failed, how it failed, and how to remedy these failures in order to protect our soldiers from further unnecessary pain and suffering. But I’m jumping ahead of things. The past weeks of testimony have presented witness after witness telling of various hateful and threatening comments made by Staff Sgt. Alberto Martinez in reference to Captain Phillip Esposito. The government has unfolded a series of events surrounding the 42nd Infantry Division Headquarters Company relationship between supply and command that culminated in the murders of my husband and Phillip Esposito. As the relationship between Staff Sgt. Martinez and Captain Esposito progressed from bad to worse, Martinez’s rage grew proportionately. Witnesses testified that Captain Esposito recognized the staff sergeant was overwhelmed and not up to standard, but the West Point graduate was determined to work with his supply sergeant and help Martinez become a better soldier. Martinez, however, resented the captain’s intrusion. He and the other supply members complained of being micro-managed and bullied. There is a distinct division of opinions in the 42nd related to Captain Esposito. Soldiers either resented him for demanding the best or admired him for striving to help his soldiers excel. Beginning at Fort Drum prior to deployment, Martinez complained about the expectations Captain Esposito placed on him. What may be construed as normal venting to some quickly advanced into hateful outbursts, according to witnesses. Defense counsel has made it abundantly clear their client has an exceedingly foul vocabulary, and testimony is heavily laced with a string of profanities relaying the staff sergeant’s words. Witnesses told of Martinez referring to the captain with profanity and escalating through the time at Fort Drum into Kuwait and all the way to Iraq. An incident in Kuwait resulted in Captain Esposito and Staff Sgt. Martinez being held jointly accountable for missing sensitive equipment. Each blamed the other. Once in Iraq, the commander who had spent months determined to work with his obviously challenged supply sergeant and teach him how to overcome his challenges had finally given up on the quest. With the unit in a combat zone and lives depending on each soldier’s ability to perform, Captain Esposito began the process of removing staff sergeant Martinez from supply and filing formal charges against him. At the same time, my husband began making his way to Iraq. Lou was excited to serve under his friend Phillip’s command and contribute to Operation Iraqi Freedom. Neither man knew Alberto Martinez was planning their murders even as Lou arrived on FOB (Forward Operating Base) Danger that first week in June 2005. Lou’s mission was to serve as property book officer and restore order to supply. But Staff Sgt. Martinez was “maxed out,” according to one witness, and would have none of this. He vowed to one witness that “Captain Esposito is ------- with my family and I’m going to burn him.” Another witness testified Martinez told him, “I’m going to frag that ----,” referring to Captain Esposito. Martinez warned another witness the captain didn’t know what could happen, and that he should be scared. On an on it went, with witness after witness recounting statements like these coupled with increasing displays of rage by the accused. These witnesses fought back tears as they expressed intense remorse for not reporting these threats. Some wept openly, like the sergeant major, a master sergeant at the time. He got to Lou and Phil within moments of the explosions and tried to render aid. He spoke with Lou and wept as he remembered using baby wipes to clean the blood off his hands later. Prior to and interspersed with this testimony were the CID (Criminal Investigative Division) Agents and the pathologist who performed both autopsies. Defense’s strategy is to discredit CID by accusing the agents of performing a lackadaisical investigation formulated to malign their client. The government is countering that by proving CID simply followed the evidence down all the roads it took them, and all those roads led to Staff Sgt. Martinez. Defense is attempting to incriminate anyone they can other than their client, and has pointed at people CID ruled out early in the investigation. The pathologist’s testimony was traumatic, of course, and something I’d rather not dwell on. The case is an extremely complex one, and what I have written here are only the basics. It’s an emotionally and physically draining process to go through, and I haven’t been handling it so well some days. Thanks as always to all those who continue to support our families through this time. I am fortunate enough to have good friends here with me, and at home with my family, caring for the boys. The government is expected to rest early next week, and from there it’s defense’s show. We’ve had a taste of their case already, and some of the people involved make my skin crawl, including, unfortunately, a nurse who was with my husband while he was dying. Thankfully another doctor was with Lou too, and she is an amazing person I have no doubt he took comfort in. It is my hope this case will not go unnoticed in the midst of all the events occurring in the news these days. This time it was my husband and Siobhan’s husband who died. But thousands of other husbands, brothers, sons, daughters, moms and dads are serving today, and none of them deserve to suffer such a fate.