Family Questions Death Of Local Soldier

One soldier's death ruled a suicide is being questioned by surviving family members. Colonel Ted Westhusing was a Jenks graduate and an instructor at West Point, who volunteered to serve in Iraq to

Thursday, August 16th 2007, 5:00 pm

By: News On 6

One soldier's death ruled a suicide is being questioned by surviving family members. Colonel Ted Westhusing was a Jenks graduate and an instructor at West Point, who volunteered to serve in Iraq to train Iraqi security forces. The News On 6â€™s Steve Berg reports he was found dead in his quarters from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound and with a suicide note nearby.

"You don't think Ted committed suicide,â€ said News On 6 reporter Steve Berg.

"Not at all,â€ said Ted Westhusingâ€™s older brother Tim Westhusing.

Tim Westhusing says Col. Ted Westhusing, a West Point graduate with three doctorate degrees, had no emotional troubles or suicidal tendencies.

He was supervising the private contractor that the U.S. government hired to train Iraqi security forces. And based on e-mails he got from his brother, Tim Westhusing believes Ted Westhusing had gotten in the middle of the missing weapons scandal that's now coming to light, in which the U.S. government's accountability office says 190,000 AK-47s and pistols are unaccounted for.

"He talked more about the corruption. He talked about it in general terms, the corruption, the killings, the missing equipment, those sorts of things,â€ Westhusing said.

Tim Westhusing didn't realize it at the time, but according to Newsweek and other articles, Ted Westhusing had complained to his superiors about the problem.

And in one of the last e-mails he received, Tim Westhusing says the Colonel indicated he was in fear for his life.

"If I make it home, I'll tell you all about. But there is so much going on over here that you basically don't want to know about. And it was a very, very frightening message from him,â€ Westhusing said. "It chilled me to the bone."

Tim Westhusing told his brother he wanted to go to Iraq, but the Colonel told him there was no way he should come there. He says Ted Westhusing was found dead on their mother's birthday. Tim Westhusing says even if his brother was going to commit suicide, there's no way he would have done it on that day.

"And I don't want to do a Tom Clancy conspiracy thing here, but the things that he reported and he was trying to bring forward to his commanding officers are exactly what's coming out right now,â€ said Westhusing.

Tim Westhusingâ€™s concerns about his brother's death are also reported in this week's issue of Newsweek in a story about the missing weapons scandal.

The Westhusing family is now exploring their options, to try to get the case re-opened or to possibly get a congressional hearing on the matter.

Watch the video: Question Raised Over Oklahoma Soldiers Death

Related Sory:

6/6/2005 - Former Oklahoman Killed In Iraq

8/15/2007 - Army Suicides At Highest Rate In 26 Years