Parents take case to Senate
By RON SELAK JR. Tribune ChronicleGiving up is not an option for Dominic and Vilma Baragona, whose story in recent years is one of sadness, triumph and determination.
After lobbying everyone from staffers to U.S. Senators and even at one point speaking directly to President Bush during the six years following the death of their military son, Dominic, the Baragonas last week traveled to Washington to testify before a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee in support of legislation that would make foreign military contractors subject to U.S. law.
''We just want to get the field leveled between domestic and foreign contracts,'' Baragona, 76, said last week. ''The way it stands right now, foreign contractors, if they do harm to one of our soldiers or any government employee, they can hide behind jurisdiction and not be held responsible.''
Baragona's son, Lt. Col. Dominic ''Rocky'' Baragona, a Niles native, was on his way home from Iraq on May 19, 2003, when the Humvee in which he was riding was struck by a truck owned by Kuwait Gulf Link Transport Co., which had multi-million dollar contracts with the Defense Department.
According to the wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of Baragona, a West Point graduate, in U.S. District Court in Northern Georgia, the driver of the truck failed to see a pile of debris in time. When he tried to avoid it, his truck jackknifed and hit the Humvee. Baragona, who had tire tracks on his Kevlar vest, was pronounced dead at the scene.
In the suit against the Kuwaiti military contractor, Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Company, the Baragonas won a $4.9 million settlement in 2007, but an appeals court vacated the decision, saying U.S. court lacked jurisdiction.
Now the family, with the help of U.S. Rep. Timothy J. Ryan, D-Niles, is fighting to change the laws that govern foreign contractors doing work for the U.S. Military.
When reached on Friday from his central Florida home, two days after his testimony on The Hill, Baragona acknowledged the legislation won't provide his family justice, but said it may for future American soldiers and their families.
The bill, the Lt. Col. Dominic ''Rocky'' Baragona Justice for American Heroes Harmed by Contractors Act, has received bi-partisan support in the Senate, said Ryan, who is sponsoring companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.
''Before any of these contractors overseas start taking taxpayer money, they need to agree to jurisdiction that if something should happen, they could be prosecuted in American court,'' Ryan said.
''This legislation may not help him, but it may help all other families to not have to go through what they went or what they are going through,'' Ryan said.
Ryan said he would like to use momentum the bill has gained in the Senate to get a House hearing. Baragona said he would continue to lobby to get bi-partisan support in the House.
Vilma and Baragona's son and daughter also attended the hearing.
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11-23-09 1:53 PM
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Grief is not always handled well. This family requires money to grieve.
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