Ciara Durkin

Ciara Durkin (July 6, 1977 – September 28, 2007) was a member of the Massachusetts National Guard who died under mysterious circumstances while deployed in Afghanistan. A U.S. Army investigation ruled the death a suicide but the family disputes this.

Durkin was from the island of Eanach Mheáin, near Lettermore, in County Galway of the Republic of Ireland. Her mother, Angela Cloherty, is a native of Eanach Mheáin while her father, Tommy, was a native of Tourmakeady, County Mayo. Following Tommy's retirement as a teacher, the family emigrated to Boston in 1986. The family were only in Boston a few months when her father died at the age of 55. Ciara returned to Ireland to attend primary school in Tuairín, Carraoe /An Cheathrú Rua, and secondary school in Scoil Chuimsitheach Chiarán, An Cheathrú Rua, returning to Boston in her mid-teens.

Of her family, her mother, Angela, and siblings Fíona Canavan, Máire, Deidre and Pearse live in Boston, while her brother Tómas lives in New York. Her sister Angela lives in Eanach Mheáin and is married to Pádraig Ó Conghaile, a former footballer with Lettermore and now works in Galway VEC. Her brother, Eóin Durkan also resides in Eanach Mheáin, while another sister, Áine Durkan lives in Buncrana, County Donegal. She and her brother Pearse were very active members of the Boston gay community. Family members said Ciara was planning to marry her longtime girlfriend following the end of her tour of duty in Afghanistan.

Her ashes were brought to Galway on Saturday October 13 and buried with her late father in Lettermore graveyard.

Details of her last days
Durkin died in a secure area at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan of a single gunshot wound to the head, and the Army has confirmed that Durkin's death was "non-combat"-related.

According to reports, Durkin had told her family that she'd uncovered information that "would upset other military officials." According to Durkin's sister, "She was in the finance unit and she said, 'I discovered some things I don’t like and I made some enemies because of it.' Then she said, in her light-hearted way, 'If anything happens to me, you guys make sure it gets investigated.'"  An e-mail she had sent friends in June 2007, claimed a fellow soldier had pulled a 9mm gun on her. Family members have also noted that Durkin was a lesbian which may have posed a problem within the military. After her death a number of scandals involving Afghan arms sales and high level officials surfaced.

Congressional involvement
US Senators John Kerry and Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts and US Representative William Delahunt are pressing for answers. In a letter, Senator John Kerry urged US Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates "to deploy your staff on this matter immediately, so that the answers and circumstances around Specialist Durkin's death are uncovered, expeditiously and thoroughly."