Vickie's blog: "sweetdreams"

Sherman soldier in Iraq accused of murder

CHRIS JENNINGS / HERALD DEMOCRAT Wilburn Russell, father of Sgt. John Russell, left, and John Michael Russell II, son of Sgt. John Russell, right, speak to members of the media.

BY JOYCE GODWIN

Herald Democrat

SHERMAN -- He stood outside his father's new Sherman home on Monday alongside his grandfather, ready to be the man of the family. Wearing a camouflage shirt and a Texas Longhorns cap, John Michael Russell II, 20, faced reporters and cameras of all sizes and types representing local and national news agencies. It was less than 24 hours after learning his father, Sgt. John M. Russell was arrested and charged with five counts of murder and one count of aggravated assault by the U.S. Army. Sgt. Russell is accused of shooting those individuals in a medical clinic Monday at Camp Liberty in Baghdad Iraq.

In Baghdad, Maj. Gen. David Perkins told reporters that Sgt. Russell, a communications specialist assigned to the 54th Engineer Battalion from Bamberg, Germany, was sent to the mental health clinic by his superiors, presumably because of concern over his emotional state. He was on his third tour in Iraq and also served in Serbia through the last half of 1996 and Bosnia and Herzegovina in the last half of 1998.

THIS IS MY EX BROTHER IN LAW........