I just herad it on the local radio and I found it on "www.elpasotimes.com". Air Force SSGT David Booher, from Holloman AFB. is the first reported active military person to be shot and killed in the cartel drug war here. The SGT was visiting a club when a group of men ordered everyone on the floor and started shooting. Friends say SSGT Booher was shot six times doing what he was trained to do, he was a Combat Medic and he was trying to help the others. I hope the area military commands put this part of Mexico off limits to military personnel. I am so sorry for his family and squadron mates.
Due to the violence, the 12th Air Force, which includes the 49th Fighter Wing, earlier this year restricted personnel from traveling to Mexican border cities and the entire state of Chihuahua. Fort Bliss has also banned its soldiers from visiting Juarez.
The AF NCO reportedly had family in both El Paso and Juarez so maybe he had special dispensation to go to Juarez. Then again, maybe he was just off limits.
What tick's me off about this is he knew he could not go to Mexico. Anyone who has family near Mexico or in Mexico can tell you there a war going on. But what surprise me is he was in a bar everyone knows the bar's in Mexico are part of the cartels. So they are high value targets for gangs trying to kill each other.
Back in 04 and on, we had to put in a DD31 for a border pass and get a S-2 threat briefing before going over. How many times have I been there in the 12 years I have lived here? Twice, they have damn good coffee and cooking spices there. I say we should not speak ill of this Airman, we do not know the situation of his trip, other than to go clubbing(by the way, Mexican troops come here to party and there have been some shootings here too, don't tell ya that do they.)To cross the border one has to have a passport card different from a regular passport. Don't take away from the fact, he was doing what he was trained to do. Help others.
I knew SSgt Booher. I can't say whether he had special permission to go to Juarez but I know he went home most weekends once he was stationed at Holloman AFB. Someone in his chain would have known. He grew up there, his mother is there. He felt comfortable. He was a likeable guy and knew many, many people in his hometown. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time and he paid with his life. So what if it was a strip club...guarantee he was not the first active duty person to go to one. It has been a sad time for the rest of us medics to learn of his fate. My heart goes out to his mother, lo siento mama.
