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Friendly fire pilot's words stir no sympathy
CTV.ca News Staff
Updated: Tue. Mar. 15 2005 11:18 AM ET
Words of regret from the U.S. fighter pilot who killed four Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan have failed to impress their relatives.
In his first candid interview since the 2002 friendly-fire incident, Maj. Harry Schmidt says he regrets not reaching out to families of Pte. Richard Green, Pte. Nathan Smith, Cpl. Ainsworth Dyer and Sgt. Marc Leger.
But rather than solace, Sgt. Leger's mother says the U.S. pilot's comments have only made her feel worse.
"Why did it take three years for him to be remorseful?" Claire Leger wondered from Ottawa Tuesday morning.
"He was blaming everybody else, but couldn't be remorseful for the families that lost their loved ones -- I was sickened by that," she told CTV's Canada AM. "It's been eating me up inside."
In an interview to be published in the April edition of Chicago magazine, Maj. Schmidt says thoughts of the four dead soldiers relatives haunt him.
"Not a day goes by that I don't think of those families," Schmidt tells the magazine.
"As a parent and a husband, I can only imagine how devastating it must have been to lose a child or a spouse. I thought of how this has affected my own family. They were totally innocent in this, too, and yet they're intractably affected."
Lisa Schmidt tells the magazine her husband has suffered depression, and even contemplated suicide.
"I was afraid he was going to kill himself," she says.
For his part, Schmidt said, "I don't know if I've been able to fully grieve," claiming he's been too wrapped up in the legal consequences of the bombing to deal with its emotional impact.
But Claire Leger says she feels no sympathy for Schmidt and his distress.
"I felt suicidal and I'm pretty darn sure that all of us felt suicidal," she said. "So, welcome to the gang... we're all stuck in the same boat."
Continuing his wife's thought, Richard Leger added that Schmidt would do well to remember his role in their son's death.
"He was the cause of this and he promoted us anguish all the way through this," Leger said. "He has never really helped any of the families. If he did anything, he made it worse."
Along for the ride
Schmidt and Maj. William Umbach were flying a mission over Afghanistan one night in April, 2002, when they spotted gunfire on the ground.
Mistaking the activity for a Taliban attack, Schmidt's F-16 dropped a 225-kilogram bomb on what were, in fact, Canadian troops engaged in a nighttime training exercise near Kandahar.
In addition to the four who died in the blast, eight others were injured. All were members of the Edmonton-based Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry.
Commenting on the interview, Pte. Green's stepfather said Schmidt should have shown some interest in the victims' relatives sooner.
"I think it would have made a lot of difference to different family members if he would have apologized and said that, 'Yes, I was wrong'," Arthur Coolen told CTV News.
But in his interview with Chicago, Schmidt offers no such apology.
"I was the wingman," he tells the magazine.
"I was not in charge of making decisions. It was, 'Shut up, hang on and say, "Yes, sir." ' I was the lowest person on the totem pole. I was, in effect, along for the ride."
In the years since the accident, Schmidt has claimed he was never warned Canadians were engaged in a live-fire exercise and therefore concluded gunfire was an attack by the Taliban. He has also blamed the "fog of war" and the military practice of giving pilots amphetamines.
Given that history, Richard Leger says he's not even sure he would be prepared to hear Schmidt offer him a proper apology now.
"I really don't think that we're prepared at this time to talk to him anyway... It's too little too late," he told Canada AM.
His wife, however, said she would at least answer if Schmidt called.
"I would take the phonecall, but he better come up with something better than that. He's trying to save his butt, as far as I'm concerned because he doesn't look good."
Schmidt, 39, and Umbach were originally charged with manslaughter and aggravated assault and faced up to 64 years in prison.
The criminal charges against Schmidt were later dropped, and military officials instead charged him with dereliction of duty.
Last July, Schmidt was found guilty on four counts of dereliction of duty, for which he was grounded, reprimanded and docked one month's salary.
In his interview, Schmidt admits he was wrong when he gave a statement at the end of a U.S. Air Force hearing in 2003. Unlike the other pilot charged in the incident, Schmidt used the opportunity to defend his actions.
All charges against Umbach were dismissed. He was given a letter of reprimand and his retirement request granted.
Friendly fire pilot's words stir no sympathy
CTV.ca News Staff
Updated: Tue. Mar. 15 2005 11:18 AM ET
Words of regret from the U.S. fighter pilot who killed four Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan have failed to impress their relatives.
In his first candid interview since the 2002 friendly-fire incident, Maj. Harry Schmidt says he regrets not reaching out to families of Pte. Richard Green, Pte. Nathan Smith, Cpl. Ainsworth Dyer and Sgt. Marc Leger.
But rather than solace, Sgt. Leger's mother says the U.S. pilot's comments have only made her feel worse.
"Why did it take three years for him to be remorseful?" Claire Leger wondered from Ottawa Tuesday morning.
"He was blaming everybody else, but couldn't be remorseful for the families that lost their loved ones -- I was sickened by that," she told CTV's Canada AM. "It's been eating me up inside."
In an interview to be published in the April edition of Chicago magazine, Maj. Schmidt says thoughts of the four dead soldiers relatives haunt him.
"Not a day goes by that I don't think of those families," Schmidt tells the magazine.
"As a parent and a husband, I can only imagine how devastating it must have been to lose a child or a spouse. I thought of how this has affected my own family. They were totally innocent in this, too, and yet they're intractably affected."
Lisa Schmidt tells the magazine her husband has suffered depression, and even contemplated suicide.
"I was afraid he was going to kill himself," she says.
For his part, Schmidt said, "I don't know if I've been able to fully grieve," claiming he's been too wrapped up in the legal consequences of the bombing to deal with its emotional impact.
But Claire Leger says she feels no sympathy for Schmidt and his distress.
"I felt suicidal and I'm pretty darn sure that all of us felt suicidal," she said. "So, welcome to the gang... we're all stuck in the same boat."
Continuing his wife's thought, Richard Leger added that Schmidt would do well to remember his role in their son's death.
"He was the cause of this and he promoted us anguish all the way through this," Leger said. "He has never really helped any of the families. If he did anything, he made it worse."
Along for the ride
Schmidt and Maj. William Umbach were flying a mission over Afghanistan one night in April, 2002, when they spotted gunfire on the ground.
Mistaking the activity for a Taliban attack, Schmidt's F-16 dropped a 225-kilogram bomb on what were, in fact, Canadian troops engaged in a nighttime training exercise near Kandahar.
In addition to the four who died in the blast, eight others were injured. All were members of the Edmonton-based Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry.
Commenting on the interview, Pte. Green's stepfather said Schmidt should have shown some interest in the victims' relatives sooner.
"I think it would have made a lot of difference to different family members if he would have apologized and said that, 'Yes, I was wrong'," Arthur Coolen told CTV News.
But in his interview with Chicago, Schmidt offers no such apology.
"I was the wingman," he tells the magazine.
"I was not in charge of making decisions. It was, 'Shut up, hang on and say, "Yes, sir." ' I was the lowest person on the totem pole. I was, in effect, along for the ride."
In the years since the accident, Schmidt has claimed he was never warned Canadians were engaged in a live-fire exercise and therefore concluded gunfire was an attack by the Taliban. He has also blamed the "fog of war" and the military practice of giving pilots amphetamines.
Given that history, Richard Leger says he's not even sure he would be prepared to hear Schmidt offer him a proper apology now.
"I really don't think that we're prepared at this time to talk to him anyway... It's too little too late," he told Canada AM.
His wife, however, said she would at least answer if Schmidt called.
"I would take the phonecall, but he better come up with something better than that. He's trying to save his butt, as far as I'm concerned because he doesn't look good."
Schmidt, 39, and Umbach were originally charged with manslaughter and aggravated assault and faced up to 64 years in prison.
The criminal charges against Schmidt were later dropped, and military officials instead charged him with dereliction of duty.
Last July, Schmidt was found guilty on four counts of dereliction of duty, for which he was grounded, reprimanded and docked one month's salary.
In his interview, Schmidt admits he was wrong when he gave a statement at the end of a U.S. Air Force hearing in 2003. Unlike the other pilot charged in the incident, Schmidt used the opportunity to defend his actions.
All charges against Umbach were dismissed. He was given a letter of reprimand and his retirement request granted.
