Chain of Events : The Government Cover-Up of the Black Hawk Incident and the Friendly-Fire Death of Lt. Laura Piper

by Piper, Joan L.

• ISBN13: 9781574883442
• ISBN10: 1574883445
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-07-01
• Publisher: Potomac Books Inc

Summary

On April 14, 1994, on a clear morning over northern Iraq's no-fly zone, two U.S. Air Force F-15 jets encountered two U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopters on a routine mission. Within ten minutes, the F-15s misidentified the helicopters and shot them down with fire-and-forget missiles. For three years, aircraft had patrolled these skies with a near-perfect safety record. Although the Black Hawk's downing was one of the worst air-to-air friendly fire incidents involving U.S. aircraft in military history, the Air Force would officially conclude the pilots had made a reasonable mistake. One victim was ebullient twenty-five-old intelligence officer Laura Piper, in love with life and with being an Air Force lieutenant. Movingly written by her mother, A Chain of Eventsis the story of Laura's final flight and the Air Force's mishandling of the subsequent investigation. It is a story of duty, patriotism, a mother's devotion to a daughter's memory, and her family's disappointment in a beloved institution.

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
Acknowledgments	ix
San Antonio, Texas April 10, 1994	1	(4)
Incirlik Air Force Base, Turkey April 13, 1994	5	(5)
Incirlik Air Force Base, Turkey April 14, 1994	10	(5)
Incirlik Air Force Base, Turkey April 14, 1994	15	(5)
MCC Forward, Zakhu, Iraq April 14, 1994	20	(5)
No Fly Zone, Northern Iraq April 14, 1994	25	(10)
No Fly Zone, Northern Iraq April 14, 1994	35	(5)
Incirlik Air Force Base, Turkey April 14, 1994	40	(14)
Washington, D.C. April 14, 1994	54	(4)
San Antonio, Texas April 14, 1994	58	(9)
Incirlik Air Force Base, Turkey April 14, 1994	67	(7)
Black Hawk Crash Site, Iraq April 15, 1994	74	(6)
San Antonio, Texas April 15, 1994	80	(7)
San Antonio, Texas April 18, 1994	87	(10)
San Antonio, Texas April 24, 1994	97	(14)
Over the North Atlantic Ocean June 11, 1994	111	(11)
San Antonio, Texas July 1, 1994	122	(14)
San Antonio, Texas August 1, 1994	136	(7)
Zakhu, Northern Iraq August 13, 1994	143	(4)
San Antonio, Texas August 26, 1994	147	(4)
Washington, D.C. September 8, 1994	151	(1)
San Antonio, Texas September 8, 1994	152	(7)
San Antonio, Texas October 1, 1994	159	(6)
Oklahoma City October 18, 1994	165	(8)
San Antonio, Texas October 22, 1994	173	(6)
Sembach Air Force Base, Germany November 7, 1994	179	(7)
San Antonio, Texas December 1, 1994	186	(4)
San Antonio, Texas January 1, 1995	190	(6)
San Antonio, Texas April 1, 1995	196	(4)
San Antonio, Texas May 1995	200	(5)
Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma City June 3, 1995	205	(14)
San Antonio, Texas June 20, 1995	219	(7)
San Antonio, Texas July 1995	226	(7)
San Antonio, Texas August 1, 1995	233	(6)
The Pentagon August 10, 1995	239	(2)
San Antonio, Texas September 1995	241	(4)
Zakhu, Northern Iraq August 1996	245	(2)
San Antonio, Texas September 1996	247	(6)
Washington, D.C. October 30, 1996	253	(5)
The Pentagon January 1, 1997	258	(2)
San Antonio, Texas August 23, 1998	260	(8)
Epilogue	268	(3)
Bibliography	271	(6)
Index	277