Army finally explains 2011 death of Pierce County native

The Defense Department has finally explained, publicly, how a Seattle-area soldier died in his tent inside a protected base in Afghanistan in 2011. It was friendly fire.

The answers come in a report by News Tribune reporter Adam Ashton, who filed a Freedom of Information Act request.

The Army now says soldiers at the base in Kandahar province were trying to take out a sniper and called for artillery. It was an off-target mortar round that landed on Sergeant Nathan Wyrick’s tent. Six others were injured.

At the time, the Pentagon failed to offer any details about Wyrick’s death.

“Normally, when a soldier dies, the Army puts out a press release that says this soldier died in this way,” explained Ashton. “In this incident, they didn’t say anything, they just said ‘Sgt. Wyrick died in combat.’ ”

Wyrick’s widow didn’t request a detailed briefing for months and Ashton speculated that might have been part of the reason for the delay, but there’s still no explanation for why the Army didn’t offer details of the death sooner.

Friendly fire deaths are common. It’s estimated that almost one-quarter of deaths in the Gulf War were due to friendly fire. Ashton said that the Pentagon has not offered an official record for Iraq and Afghanistan, but said one report in Salon.com put the percentage of deaths from friendly fire at one percent “which is so low it’s unbelievable,” said Ashton.

Ashton reports that an Army investigation ruled out leadership mistakes and the improper operation of mortar tubes as factors in Wyrick’s death.