Inquiry in GI death finds no sign of electrocution

CAMP ADDER, Iraq - A preliminary investigation of the maintenance tent where an Arkansas soldier died and the humvee he was working on found no indication of electrocution.

Sgt. 1st Class Anthony Woodham died suddenly Saturday night as he climbed under a humvee in a maintenance bay at Camp Adder at Tallil in southern Iraq to retrieve a dropped flashlight.

Woodham, 37, of Rogers,was a member of Delta Company, 1st Squadron, 151 Cavalry Regiment of Arkansas' 39th Infantry Brigade.

Military doctors determined that the causeof death was cardiac arrest. An investigation is ongoing, and an autopsy is expected to clarify within the next few days what caused the cardiac arrest. Until then, no one knows what caused his heart to stop.

Woodham was overweight and on blood pressure medication at the time of his death.

Official Army documents used to notify Woodham's family, however, say Woodham died of an electrical shock. A statement issued by Maj. Keith Moore, Arkansas National Guard public affairs officer, said Woodham died "from noncombat related injuries resulting from contact with an electrified piece of metal in the vehicle maintenance area."

Woodham was replacing an injector pump on a humvee with another soldier from Delta Company when he collapsed and died while climbing down to the tent's metal floor to retrieve a flashlight.

An unknown soldier at the scene speculated to responding medical personnel that Woodham may have received an electrical shock. On Tuesday, Army investigators began determining how that speculation turned into the official cause of death that was reported toWoodham's family.

None of the documentation sent forward by Woodham's unit said he was electrocuted.

Electrocutions in Iraq have received a lot of attention in recent weeks. Faulty wiring at Army and Marine posts across Iraq have claimed the lives of more than 20 troops over the past five years. The Department of Defense announced two weeks ago that it was launching an investigation into the matter.

Army investigators and four electricians with Kellogg Brown & Root, a defense contractor, tested every outlet, wire and electric source in the tent within hours of Woodham's death and, according to their report, found nothing that could have led to an electrical shock.

While the investigation continues, military authorities said Monday that electrocution is not believed to have been the cause of death. Electrical shock can cause cardiac arrest like a heart attack, but typically there are burns and other indications that, in this case, could not be found.

Electrocution is still a possibility, but so far there is no evidence to support the theory.

Somewhere in the process, after the reports left the squadron and moved through the Army's paperwork process for notifying relatives, the claim of electrocution changed from speculation from one soldier to become the documented cause of death.

"We followed the medical documentation in our reports," said Capt. Anthony Rushing of Benton, the squadron's personnel officer. "I couldn't say how this happened. That electrocution claim was something said by someone in the rush of the moment." A complete list of Arkansas-related war deaths can be found at www2.arkansasonline.com/warcasualties/.

Front Section, Pages 7 on 07/09/2008

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