Family of slain GI plead for sisters to be excused Iraq duty

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http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20040412/ts_alt_afp/us_iraq_casualty_040412232304

Family of slain GI plead for sisters to be excused Iraq duty

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CHICAGO (AFP) - With three daughters serving in Iraq (news - web sites), the past year has been a difficult one for John and Lori Witmer, and then came the knock on the door that every military family dreads.

At 7:30 pm (0130 GMT) late Friday, military officials informed them that their 20-year-old daughter Michelle had been killed in an ambush in Baghdad.

The Witmers were still waiting for the body of their slain daughter to arrive home Monday, but her sisters Sergeant Charity Witmer, 20, and Specialist Rachel Witmer, 24, were back by their side, and the Witmers are determined to keep them there.

The grief-stricken couple is pleading with the Army top brass to give Charity and Rachel special dispensation to serve out the rest of their tour of duty back home in the United States.

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The 20-year-old died when her Humvee came under small arms fire in Baghdad, according to Donovan.

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