An Army Death, and a Family Left In the Dark

"If they can lie to Pat Tillman's family, what do you think they're going to do to Ma and Pop in Middle America here?" asked Peggy Buryj, who had supported her son's decision to join the Army after his high school graduation in 2002. "The story changes. You can't believe anything."

Peggy and Amber Buryj believe they were strung along because Jesse's death became a diplomatic embarrassment. Documents obtained by The Washington Post reveal one investigation that was abruptly terminated because of diplomatic concerns, another that was not shared with Polish allies, and delays in the release of official reports about Buryj's death. Those documents were not issued until after Bush was reelected -- with the help of a slim margin in Buryj's home state of Ohio.

"I'm angry, I'm so angry," Peggy Buryj said. "I gave them my son, and he served proudly. He didn't deserve this. His family didn't deserve this. I just want to know the truth."

Night Battle

According to Army documents, investigation reports and interviews, a scene of chaos played out the night of May 4, 2004.

Jesse Ryan Buryj was a team gunner with the 4th Platoon, 66th Military Police Company, based at Fort Lewis, Wash. His unit was taking part in Operation Dagger Stab in response to the April uprising of the Mahdi militia, led by Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr. There had been several reports that the militia was converting heavy vehicles into massive car bombs, one of the most deadly insurgent tactics.

At 11:30 p.m., Buryj's unit linked up with Polish troops and the several dozen soldiers convoyed to an intersection in Karbala, where they set up a checkpoint at a traffic circle. It was the first mission in which the unit had operated jointly with Polish troops.

"The Poles were very liberal in their use of force when they perceived a threat," a U.S. officer, who was not named, said in an interview with investigators. (Many names in the documents were redacted for security reasons.) U.S. soldiers reported that Polish troops opened fire on several vehicles that night, sometimes without justification.

Buryj was in the turret of an armored Humvee with a trailer on the east side of the circle, while Polish and U.S. units manned several entrances to the checkpoint.

At 1 a.m. on May 5, a dump truck approached the circle from the south and slowed, as if to stop.

"It just sat there for a few seconds, hesitated, and then it just plowed through," Sgt. Chris DeCloud, a member of Buryj's unit, said in a recent interview. "The engine revved and boom, it was coming through the checkpoint. The Poles were lighting it up from all sides. We lit it up."

The tires blew, and the truck veered to the right but did not slow. Its windshield cracked into a ragged spider web, and the driver slumped, dead. Buryj, seeing the truck coming directly at him, fired several rounds from his M249 machine gun. The truck rammed his vehicle, sending it up on its passenger-side wheels and tossing Buryj to the ground.

"We thought this truck was going to blow up, this is the end. We all did," DeCloud said, adding that he didn't think his unit was taking fire from the Poles. "I thought we were the only ones shooting" when the truck hit the Humvee.