Widow of Fort Carson Soldier Notified of Husband's Death on Facebook
The military is investigating the situation surrounding the wife of a Fort Carson, Colo., soldier who learned of her husband's death via Facebook.
Staff Sgt. Christopher Brown of Columbus, Ohio was killed April 3 by an insurgent bomb in Afghanistan. His wife, Ariell Taylor-Brown, was first informed of her husband's death from another soldier in her husband's platoon on her Facebook page.
A girl in his platoon. She told me to call her immediately and I was in front of my kids and I completely had a breakdown, Taylor-Brown told CBS.
Hours later, two soldiers arrived at her home to give her the news she had already heard.
Soldiers are warned before deployment not to release information of a fellow soldier's death or injury until relatives have been notified. Soldiers who break this rule can be ordered to a Court Martial.
Officials at Fort Carson said a total of three soldiers were involved in spreading the information, according to The Republic. Master Sgt. Craig Zentkovich told the paper that a soldier in Afghanistan sent a Facebook message to a soldier at Fort Carson, who passed in on to the soldier at the post, who told the widow.
Brown served twice in Iraq and was on his second deployment in Afghanistan. He earned a Bronze Star, a Purple Heart and an Army Commendation Medal.
Taylor-Brown, now a widow with two children and another on the way, told CBS she was devastated and angry that she wasn't informed by the military first.
She plans to name her newborn Carter Christopher because that's what her husband would have wanted.
I wish he could meet him, she said. His dad is a hero.
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