Word: mueller
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...Mueller's misfortune to be part of the 52nd Fighter Wing, the outfit that mistakenly downed two U.S. Army helicopters over Iraq in 1994, killing 26 people. The 52nd's commanders had failed to bring the two F-15 pilots to court-martial for their central role in the disaster. That didn't please General Ronald Fogleman, the tough-talking fighter pilot who runs the Air Force. In August 1995 he effectively ended the pilots' careers with letters of condemnation. "We are held in high regard by the public because of the integrity we demonstrate by holding ourselves accountable...
After the crash, the 52nd was ready to prove it could punish its own. It took the extraordinary step of charging the two mechanics with criminally negligent homicide, punishable by four years in prison, a dishonorable discharge and forfeiture of all pay and allowances. Mueller complained in a letter to his parents' Congressman, "Now we, the little guys, have...
...Mueller had long taken great pride in being a "little guy." He was among the hundreds of thousands of enlisted people in the U.S. military whose work enables the stars to shine. Born in Germany, he became an American citizen shortly after marrying Rosa, a Texas woman, in 1977. He loved playing and coaching soccer and making fishing lures with his two sons, Daniel, 15, and Marcelo, 11. Before his trial, numerous colleagues, including two F-15 pilots, submitted letters praising Mueller's skill and integrity. Captain Christopher Foster, an F-15 pilot, wrote that he would "feel completely comfortable...
...hear about the 1986 and 1991 rod-crossing incidents, or the steps taken after Lowry's death to fix the problem. But a February legal review, required before any court-martial, strongly criticized that approach: the jury, an Air Force lawyer outside the 52nd cautioned, might see Mueller as "a victim of poor policy" and a "mere scapegoat...
...addressed to the defendants from a safety expert who wanted to help them, and kept it for a month. An airman complained that prosecutors threatened "to cut me off at the knees" for insisting that the enlisted mechanics were being unfairly targeted. After a break in a preliminary hearing, Mueller returned to the hearing room to find Lowry's autopsy photos atop his table. (The color pictures were graphic; the accident report lists PILOT'S CRANIUM as Item No. 321.) Mueller's sister Sabine Dalianis said later, "My brother told me he didn't know if he could ever close...