Years of service 2005–2007 Battles/wars War in Afghanistan † Role Soldier Service/branch United States Army | Rank Specialist Name Death Ciara Battles and wars War in Afghanistan | |
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Born July 6, 1977
Eanach Mheain, Ireland ( 1977-07-06 ) Allegiance United States of America Died September 28, 2007, Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan | ||
Ciara M. Durkin (July 6, 1977 – September 28, 2007), was a soldier with the Massachusetts National Guard who died while deployed in Afghanistan. A U.S. Army investigation ruled the death a suicide but the family disputes this.
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Early life and education
Durkin, one of nine siblings, was born on the island of Eanach Mheain, near County Galway, Ireland. Her mother, Angela (nee Cloherty), is a native of the island, and her father, Tommy, was a native of Tourmakeady, County Mayo. Following her father's retirement as a teacher, the family emigrated to Boston, Massachusetts in 1986, where her father died a few months later, aged 55. She returned to Ireland to attend school, returning to the Boston area in her mid-teens. She was a 1996 graduate of Fontbonne Academy, Milton, and joined the Army National Guard in October 2005 after getting laid off from her information technology job at Fenway Health, her family told the Quincy, Massachusetts-based Patriot Ledger.
Details of her last days
Durkin died in a secure area at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan of a single gunshot wound to the head, and the Army has confirmed that Durkin's death was "non-combat related".
According to reports, she told her family she had uncovered information that "would upset other military officials". According to one of Durkin's sisters, "[S]he [Ciara] was in the finance unit and she said, I discovered some things I don't like and I made some enemies because of it. Then she said, in her light-hearted way, If anything happens to me, you guys make sure it gets investigated." An e-mail she had sent to friends in June 2007 claimed a fellow soldier had pulled a 9mm gun on her.
After her death a number of scandals involving Afghan arms sales and high level officials surfaced.
Congressional involvement
U.S. Senators John Kerry and Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts and US Representative William Delahunt pressed for answers.
Kerry urged Robert M. Gates, US Defense Secretary, "to deploy your staff on this matter immediately, so that the answers and circumstances around Specialist Durkin's death are uncovered, expeditiously and thoroughly."
Personal life
Of her family, her mother, and four siblings live in Boston, while two brothers live in New York. Another sister and brother live in Eanach Mheain, while another sister, lives in Buncrana, County Donegal. She was a lesbian and both she and her brother Pierce were active members of the Boston gay community. Family members said Ciara was planning to marry her longtime girlfriend following the end of her tour of duty in Afghanistan. Her ashes were brought to Galway on Saturday, October 13, 2007, and buried with her late father in Lettermore.