This article [link] made the front page of the Albany Times Union. In it Robert Gavin chronicles my opposition to the nomination of General Taluto to serve as Director of the National Guard.
I noticed that Eric Durr, a spokesman for the state Division of Military and Naval Affairs, attempted to spin away General Taluto's responsibility for the murder of my husband. I think my own statements in the article refute his spin; nevertheless I'd like to answer him directly here.
A commander bears ultimate responsibility for the actions of those under his command. My charge against General Taluto is not that he was the trigger man and not that he had specific knowledge that my husband would be murdered by Staff Sergeant Alberto Martinez, but that the systemic lack of discipline in the 42nd Infantry Division was a product of the General’s lack of concern and professional incompetence. I simply find it unacceptable that a soldier could issue repeated death threats against his superior officer and no one in the chain of command would feel compelled to act.
Ultimately, the failure of the soldiers of the 42nd Infantry Division to enforce Army rules and regulations must rest with General Taluto. If not, one would have to claim that no one is accountable whatsoever for the state of military discipline in a military unit—yet that is precisely what Mr. Durr attempts to insinuate. Needless to say, the act recoils upon him.
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