Special Investigative Report By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on March 21, 2021 New Department of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has a unique opportunity to achieve justice in the 2005 murder of Army Private LaVena Johnson. Ms. Johnson was a 19-year-old black Private who served as a switchboard operator on a U.S. military base in Balad, Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. This is her story. Private Johnson's Murder On July 19, 2005, Private Johnson took a shor