Background
McCaffrey was born in Palo Alto, California.
McCaffrey was born in Palo Alto, California.
He was a United States. Army National Guard soldier who joined the National Guard the day after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and was assigned to Company A, 579th Engineer Battalion, Engineer Brigade, 40th Infantry Division, Multi-National Corps Iraq, Army Post Office AE 09342 based in Petaluma, California. On June 22, 2004, McCaffrey was on a patrol with Iraqi Security Forces and the Platoon"s LT. when the two United States. soldiers were killed, initially thought to be Iraqi insurgents in an ambush near Balad, Iraq. At the same time, a third gunman simultaneously drove up to the American unit in a van, climbed onto the vehicle and fired at the soldiers.
McCaffrey"s mother Nadia McCaffrey was dissatisfied with the findings by the United States Army of her son"s death and asked Senator Barbara Boxer for assistance to pressure the Pentagon for answers about the case.
People in this country need to know that."
On June 20, 2005, the United States Army Criminal Investigation Division concluded that the Iraqi Security Forces officers patrolling with them had killed McCaffrey. McCaffrey was promoted posthumously to sergeant.
However, witnesses reported that members of the Iraqi Security Forces accompanying McCaffrey"s unit opened fire.