Newspaper Page Text
2A
MARCH 7, 2002
Nation/World
New York base “on edge”
as soldiers die in Afghanistan
By WILLIAM KATES
Associated Press Writer
FORT DRUM, N.Y.
Soldiers and spouses here
havewatched withgrowingten
sion as reports of American
casualties trickle in from the
battlegrounds of Afghanistan.
AsthePentagonreleased the
names of seven U.S. service
men killed in “Operation Ana
conda” Monday in the moun
tains of eastern Afghanistan,
membersofthe 10th Mountain
Division at Fort Drum talked
about thecombination of pride,
fearand resolve thatcolorstheir
days.
“Any time there’s fighting,
people here are alittle more on
edge,” Spec. 4 Sam Clark of
Indiana said Tuesday atanews
conferenceoutsidethepost. “We
know our guys are over there
and they are in the thick of it.
Even if it’s not a friend, it’s
probably someone you trained
with or walked by in the com
missary.”
Maj. Ken McDorman would
not immediately say if the four
U.S. Army troops killed Mon
day were from the 10th Moun
tain.
There are about 10,500 sol
diers assigned to Fort Drum,
Jjust northeast of Watertown in
northern New York.
While Rena Tumbleson’shus
band, Maj. Darryl Tumbleson,
has been in Afghanistan, she
has usually let their 11-year
olddaughter watch the evening
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STROLLING IN SPACE: Astronaut John Grunsfeld, left, is seen at one end of stowed solar
panelsin the cargo bay of the space shuttie Columbia while astronaut Richard Linnehan
uses the Remote Manipulator System’s robotic arm to move around during spacewalk
Monday, March 4, 2002. Grunsfeld and Linnehan spent seven hours outside installing
a new solar wing on the Hubble Space Telescope. AP Photo/NASA
news. As fighting has intensi
fied, Tumbleson has assumed
the role of censor even as she
forces herself to watch.
“The toughest part is when
you see something on the news
thisweekend and you’retrying
todeal with that and waiting to
hear that it’s not your spouse,”
she said.
Darryl Tumbleson has been
away from homebeforebut only
on peacekeeping missions.
“This time, it’s true war,”
she said. “With peacekeeping,
you don’t have that anxiety
that they’re not going to come
home. The fear is there (this
time). It’s a true fear factor.”
The mood at the base is “like
most Americans,” McDorman
said.
“We are anxiously watching
the news but we have great
confidence in our leaders and
soldiers who are in Afghani
stan,” McDorman said.
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Families of two victims of crash
that killed Aaliyah file lawsuits
By TOM HARRIGAN
Associated Press Writer
LOS ANGELES
Relatives of two hair stylists
who died in the plane crash
that also killed singer-actress
Aaliyah have sued her record
company for hiring a “fly-by
night” charter aircraft com
pany.
Thefamilies of Eric Forman,
29, ‘and Anthony Dodd, 34,
filed wrongful death lawsuits
against Virgin Records
America, its affiliated music
and video production units,
theplane’sownerandthechar
ter air company hired for the
Aug. 25 flight.
All nine people aboard the
Florida-bound planedied when
it crashed immediately after
taking off from an airfield in.
the Bahamas. The lawsuits
allege that the aircraft was
overloaded with passengers,
luggage and equipment used
in a video shoot, and that the
pilot “was not approved to act
as pilot of the accident air
craft.” :
Brian J. Panish, the fami
lies’ attorney, said Virgin
“took profits over thesafety of
transporting people” by using
what he called a “fly-by-night”
charter aircraft company. The
families are seeking unspeci
fied monetary damages and
“answers to why this tragedy
occurred,” Panish said.
He said he believes no other
legal action has been filed by
Aaliyah’s family or anyone else
involved with the crash.
A spokesperson for Virgin
Recordsin Los Angelesand an
attorney representing
Aaliyah’s relatives did not im
mediately return calls seeking
comment on the lawsuits.
Aaliyah had been in the Ba
hamas’ Abaco Island to film a
video for the song “Rock the
Boat.” The song earned the
22-year-old a nomination for
best female R&B vocal perfor
mance at Wednesday night’s
Grammys in Los Angeles. She
also had been nominated for
best R&B album, but Alicia
Keys won in both categories.
Aaliyah had been nominated
for Grammys twice before.
The film “Queen of the
Damned,” in which Aaliyah
plays an ancient vampire, was
No. 1 at the box office with
$14.8 million in its debut in.
North America last weekend.
Panish said the lawsuits
were not timed to the film’s
release or the Grammys. They
were filed in Los Angeles be
cause Virgin and other defen
dants do business in the city,
and because that’s where ar
rangements for the flight were
made, he said.
Inaddition to Virgin Records
America, the defendantslisted
were music video director
Harold “Hype” Williams, In
stinct Productions Inc., Big
Dog House Films, Blackground
Records LLC, Skystream, Inc.
and Blackhawk International
Airways.
Blackhawk is the Florida
based charter air company
hired for the flight. The twin
engine Cessna4o2B wasregis*
tered to Skystream, the law
suit said.
A Cessna Aircraft spokes
woman, Jessica Myers, has
said the plane was certified to
carry only six to eight people.