Army nurse in Afghanistan dies while Skyping with wife

[joelee]

HOUSTON — The Texas-based wife of an Army nurse serving in Afghanistan witnessed her husband's death as the two video chatted via Skype, his family said Friday.
The circumstances of Capt. Bruce Kevin Clark's death Monday were not immediately available.
Julia Yobeta, a public affairs specialist at William Beaumont Army Medical Center in El Paso, where Clark had been assigned, told msnbc.com that the cause of death was still under investigation. "There is no comment at this time," Yobeta said.

"We are entrusting the military with investigating and with finding out what happened to Capt. Clark," Bradley Taber-Thomas, Clark's brother-in-law, told The Associated Press.

The Pentagon said the 43-year-old officer was formerly from Spencerport, N.Y.

"Bruce's wife tragically witnessed her husband's death during one of their regular Skype video-chats on Monday," Taber-Clark said in a prepared statement. "At the time of the incident, the family was hoping for a rescue and miracle, but later learned that it was not to be."

Clark, a clinical staff nurse who had worked in the ICU at William Beaumont Army Medical Center, was deployed in March. Yobeta said he was stationed in Tarin Kot, Afghanistan.

Taber-Thomas said Clark is survived by his wife and two daughters, age 3 and 9.

Taber-Thomas said the soldier's body was returned Thursday to Dover Air Force Base.

"Although the circumstances were unimaginable, Bruce's wife and extended family will be forever thankful that he and his wife were together in his last moments," he said.

A funeral is planned in Spencerport, N.Y., a suburb of Rochester and his wife's hometown, but details were not immediately available. Clark and his wife moved there in 2000 and he joined the Army six years later.

A memorial service also was planned for Addison, Mich., where Clark graduated from high school.

"While we understand the interest our family's tragedy will attract given the unique circumstances, we ask that our privacy be respected during our time of grief," Taber-Thomas said

[Sixx]

Man, that's sad.......I cannot even imagine what she's going through now. Tragic.

[conorcolt]

rescue and miracle? was their base attacked?

[Mel]

Your loved ones dieing is one thing....But watching it happen,would be (for lack of a better word) rough to say the least.

[eaglethebeagle]

If you had to guess it may have been cardiac arrest.... but the "rescue and miracle" almost sounds like suicide. Depression is the silent killer that men dont like to talk about. Talk to a doctor it is a very common occurance in men even in young men. I hope his family can find peace. RIP sir thank you for serving our nation.

[ErisKillton]

If you had to guess it may have been cardiac arrest.... but the "rescue and miracle" almost sounds like suicide. Depression is the silent killer that men dont like to talk about. Talk to a doctor it is a very common occurance in men even in young men. I hope his family can find peace. RIP sir thank you for serving our nation.

I never thought of that before in this case. And its totally possible. "rescue" meaning he was possibly somewhere secluded, where no one would notice him for a while.
That would be horrible if it was suicide.
Absolutely horrible.
I was thinking it was some type of murder, but either way how very awful for his wife and children.
RIP Soldier.

[eaglethebeagle]

Sounds like it may have been a murder.... horrible story regardless of what the final truth comes out.


DALLAS - An Army nurse showed no alarm or discomfort before suddenly collapsing during a Skype video chat with his wife, who saw a bullet hole in a closet behind him, his family said Sunday.
Capt. Bruce Kevin Clark's family released a statement describing what his wife saw in the video feed recording her husband's death.
"Clark was suddenly knocked forward," the statement said. "The closet behind him had a bullet hole in it. The other individuals, including a member of the military, who rushed to the home of CPT Clark's wife also saw the hole and agreed it was a bullet hole."
The statement says the Skype link remained open for two hours on April 30 as family and friends in the U.S. and Afghanistan tried to get Clark help.
"After two hours and many frantic phone calls by Mrs. Clark, two military personnel arrived in the room and appeared to check his pulse, but provided no details about his condition to his wife," the statement said.
In the statement, Susan Orellana-Clark said she was providing details of what she saw "to honour my husband and dispel the inaccurate information and supposition promulgated by other parties."
U.S. officials in Afghanistan referred questions to the Pentagon, which previously referred questions to the William Beaumont Army Medical Center in El Paso, where Clark was assigned.
The Pentagon said previously that Clark's death remains under investigation.
Clarence Davis, spokesman for William Beaumont Army Medical Center, declined to comment on Clark's family's statement.
Clark, 43, grew up in Michigan and previously lived in Spencerport, N.Y., a suburb of Rochester, his wife's hometown. He joined the Army in 2006 and was stationed in Hawaii before he was assigned to the medical centre in El Paso. He deployed to Afghanistan in March.
Clark's body was returned Thursday to Dover Air Force Base.
He is survived by his wife and two daughters, aged 3 and 9.

[ErisKillton]

I wonder where he was that took them 2 hours to find him?!

I hope they will give his family some answers. Even if it's not made public they deserve to know the reasons this happened.

[eaglethebeagle]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Army investigators said Monday they found no bullet wound nor evidence of foul play in the death of a soldier in Afghanistan who died during a Skype video chat with his wife.
Capt. Bruce Kevin Clark collapsed while speaking to his wife on May 1 from his base in Tarin Kot, Afghanistan, southwest of Kabul. His wife, Susan Orellana-Clark, has suggested that Clark was shot, citing a hole visible in the closet behind him that she believed was a bullet hole. Investigators said an initial probe showed only that Clark broke his nose when he fell forward. Orellana-Clark said he didn't seem alarmed before he collapsed.
Christopher Grey, a spokesman for the Army Criminal Investigation Command, said Monday that no bullet wound was found in Clark's body. An autopsy is being done to determine the cause of death and the investigation is still under way, Grey said.
"But the important thing is that there was no bullet wound, no trauma," except that Clark's nose was possibly broken when he fell on his desk, Grey said in a telephone interview.
"We can positively say that Captain Clark was not shot," Grey later said in a statement.
Clark's family released a statement Sunday describing what his wife saw in the video feed recording her husband's death.
"The closet behind him had a bullet hole in it," the statement said, adding that others, including a member of the military who came to Orellana-Clark's Texas home also believed it was a bullet hole.
The statement says the Skype link remained open for two hours after Clark collapsed as family and friends in the U.S. and Afghanistan tried to get Clark help. Although it was the night of Monday, April 30, at his El Paso, Texas, home, Clark's time of death is officially listed as May 1, the date in Afghanistan at the time.
"After two hours and many frantic phone calls by Mrs. Clark, two military personnel arrived in the room and appeared to check his pulse, but provided no details about his condition to his wife," the statement said.
In the statement, Orellana-Clark said she was providing details of what she saw "to honor my husband and dispel the inaccurate information and supposition promulgated by other parties."
Reached Monday after the Army issued its statement, Bradley Taber-Thomas, a brother-in-law who has been acting as a spokesman for Clark's family, said the family had not been officially informed by the Army that a bullet wound had not been found in the captain's body and had no immediate comment.
Grey said investigators will "consider all available evidence" before reaching a final determination.
"Although we have not completely ruled it out to ensure a complete and thorough investigation is conducted, we do not suspect foul play in the death of Captain Clark at this point," Grey said. "We will continue to keep the next of kin updated as the investigation continues."
Clark grew up in Michigan and previously lived in Spencerport, N.Y., a suburb of Rochester, his wife's hometown. He joined the Army in 2006 and was stationed in Hawaii before he was assigned to the medical center in El Paso. He deployed to Afghanistan in March.
Clark's body was returned Thursday to Dover Air Force Base.
He is survived by his wife and two daughters, aged 3 and 9.
---
Associated Press Writer Ramit Plushnick-Masti contributed to this report from Houston.

[Sixx]

I don't believe anything that is released to the public from the military.