Monday, December 19, 2005
A man injured in the blast was from the hometown listed for the Ohio soldier.
Associated Press
A Pentagon error incorrectly listing Evansville, Ind., as the hometown of an Ohio soldier who died in Iraq has bewildered the man's family, which wants the military to correct the mistake.
When it announced Wednesday that Staff Sgt. Curtis Mitchell had died Monday in Baghdad when a roadside bomb exploded under his tank, the Department of Defense listed Evansville as his "home of record."
But Charlie Mitchell, the oldest of eight siblings, said his brother, who was called Tony, never lived in Evansville. Their parents live in southeastern Ohio, where Curtis Mitchell, 28, also grew up, joining the Army right out of high school in McConnelsville, Ohio.
Charlie Mitchell, who lives in Springfield, Ohio, said their mother is trying to get the Pentagon to set the record straight about her son, whose widow and stepson live in Georgia, outside Fort Stewart.
A Pentagon spokeswoman admitted Friday that it made an error.
Possible explanation
The family of Army Spc. Craig Conger, who is from Evansville, thinks the mistake came about because Conger, 22, was also in the tank hit by the bomb.
Conger's mother, Karen Berning, said he called home Monday, after he suffered lacerations to his head and arm in the blast. When she talked to him again Thursday, they discussed the fact that the Pentagon was saying Mitchell was from Evansville.
"He said 'No. ... He's never been to Evansville,'" Berning said.
Charlie Mitchell said he has two surviving brothers in the military -- one who just finished basic training in Texas in the Air Force, and Jimmy, who was on patrol with Curtis when the bomb went off. He watched the explosion from his tank, farther back in the convoy.
Charlie Mitchell said Jimmy is on his way home from Iraq for the funeral. "He needs us right now, I think," he said.