Car crash kills 2 of soldier's young kids traveling to visit him

Source: Houston Chronicle

DALLAS — Two children of a Fort Bliss soldier flown back from Iraq with combat injuries are dead and a third is on life support following a car accident on the way to visit their father in the hospital, Army officials said.

Army Spc. John Austin Johnson was waiting for his wife and three kids to visit him at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio Oct. 13 when another soldier told him his family's car had rolled over four times on Interstate 10 about 12 miles east of Ozona on the gusty West Texas plains.

. . .

Schmidt said Johnson's wife, Lisa, overcorrected the steering in her sport utility vehicle after encountering a blast of wind on the drive from El Paso. The couple's youngest children, 2-year-old Logan and 5-year-old Ashley, died at the scene.

Tyler Johnson, 9, suffered massive head injuries and remains on life support at Children's Medical Center in Dallas. He was listed in critical but stable condition Sunday, a hospital spokeswoman said.

. . .

Schmidt said Johnson has survived five brushes with improvised explosive device blasts during two years in Iraq. The latest left him with a traumatic brain injury, and he speaks with a severe stutter.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/5232805.html

:(

:cry:

:(

I'm sure she was struggling to get to her husband as soon as possible, but then to be by herself, lose control and then know her children were gone or injured so badly...what a desperate feeling. How to tell your husband who has so many tragedies of his own? I know they both are suffering terribly, but I can't get the woman out of my mind.

All because of this damned war.

But as you said, the tragedy and waste haunts one and it somehow symbolizes the total abject misery of this conflict.

bewildered people, heartbroken people.

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

????????????????????????????

Spit it out. What are you saying here?

The children's loss is a tragedy in any scenario.

I don't know what I was thinking.

it's just that around here we know that conservative assholes post crap on here just so they can turn around and say LOOK WHAT THOSE LIBERALS ARE SAYING. We are very sensitive to that kind of stuff.

he survived 5 blasts from explosives and the SUV could not survive a blast of wind...that poor soldier he will now NEVER GET OVER IT!

I'd like to see people being trained to handle a big vehile like that, then we would see less accidents that are SUV related.

Terrible tragedy.

because they aren't sold as vehicles needing specialized training. Perhaps there should be a requirement that drivers pass an SUV road test similar to the way states require separate tests for motorcycles.

And another thing... Anyone trying to get a license needs to take a strick writin test, and a driving test that tests your abilities to control a car in many emergancy situations, including high speeds!

Some of the SUVs are inherently more dangerous because they don't handle like most passenger cars. Drivers who have good maneuvering skills in cars designed for noncommercial, nonfarm duty don't anticipate the need for different skills in SUVs sold as safe "family" cars. Without a look at the accident report it's impossible to say whether the woman in this incident would have fared better in a Saturn wagon for example, but the accidents stats are clear on the issue of propensity for certain SUVs to behave the way hers did in such a situation.

The idea that retroactively, there should be some special training for people who drive SUV's is so stupid it's mindnumbing.

SUV's are dangerous to the people riding in them and they also KILL OTHER DRIVERS WITH SMALLER CARS.

They were engineered for no crash compatability.

They were engineered to be prone to roll overs.

If people were now required to obtain specialized licenses in order to drive the oversized, unstable hulks (including older models now on the road) they wouldn't be so popular.

SUVs are more likely to be involved in low speed adult pedestrian fatalities too because of their height.

receive special training for driving them, after how many hundreds of thousands have been MARKETED AND SOLD by the auto makers, is absolutely ridiculous.

SUV's in the beginning were made to carry lots of cargo/people, tow big loads, and go on different terrains, even today they do that very well, but the auto makers have marketed them as family vehicles. The full size ones are built on truck platforms as we all know, so they dont handle good, yet I'm sure they can hold their own against the big old heavy sedans of 30 years ago. The smaller more car based SUV's can handle alot better, better safety, higher mpg, and they drive better.

:cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

omg




lost
omg omg omg

So so tragic.
It makes you wonder...

my heart goes out to this man

:cry:

Tragic. Just tragic.

This tragic accident is to hard to comprehend. I hope that those who are amassing a fortune from this war, will kick in and help these family's live a comfortable life.

:cry:

Terra?

This is an unspeakable tragedy. I hope that the oldest child is not brain-damaged.