Mother of slain Marine to attend Pentagon meeting

The mother of a Marine from Amherst who was slain in Afghanistan said she will meet next week at the Pentagon with representatives of the Army and the Marine Corps.

Susan Price said she hopes the meeting will provide some answers about the death of her son, Gunnery Sgt. Aaron M. Kenefick, and four other servicemen who were killed in a September 2009 ambush.

"We are going there in search of justice and answers to our questions," Price said.

The former Amherst resident said the meeting will be held Wednesday morning in the Pentagon. Family members of two other servicemen who were killed also will attend the discussion, Price said.

Price's son, two other Marines, an Army sergeant and a Navy medic were killed by Taliban forces who ambushed them in the village of Gangjal. The men came under heavy fire and repeatedly called for backup over several hours, but superiors repeatedly refused to send backup, according to a Defense Department investigation report.

All of the Americans who were killed were embedded as trainers with the Afghan Army and Afghan Border Patrol. Eight Afghan Army soldiers and an interpreter were also killed in the ambush.

The Defense Department said "inadequate and ineffective" decisions by command officers led to the deaths. Two Army officers were reprimanded for their actions--or lack of action -- but the government has never released their names or more information about the men.

Last December, Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-NY, and Rep. Kathleen C. Hochul, D-Amherst, asked the secretaries of the Army and Navy to give the families of the slain men a special briefing.

Price said she and family members of the other slain servicemen were never given a detailed explanation for why backup was refused.

"We are just scratching the surface on questions and answers," she said.

Kenefick, 30, grew up in Amherst. The others fatally wounded in the ambush were 1st Lt. Michael Johnson, 25, and Gunnery Sgt. Edwin Johnson, 31, also of the Marines; Navy Hospital Corpsman James Layton, 22; and Army Sgt. 1st Class Kenneth Westbrook, 41.

Westbrook died of gunshot wounds in a military hospital a month after the ambush. The other four servicemen were found dead at the scene.

The men had gone to Gangjal for what was expected to be a peaceful meeting with village leaders, but, according to military officials, someone tipped off the Taliban, and the Americans were ambushed.

Dakota Meyer, a Marine Corps sergeant who disobeyed orders and went into Gangjal in an effort to rescue the ambush victims, received the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military award for heroism.