Eugene Armstrong
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214929133
2008-05-25T23:07:18Z
Good Olfactory
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Quick-adding category "Terrorism deaths in Iraq" (using [[WP:HOTCAT|HotCat]])
{{Mergeto|Foreign hostages in Iraq|Talk:Foreign hostages in Iraq#Eugene Armstrong merge|date=September 2007}}
'''Olin Eugene Armstrong, Jr.''' ([[5 June]] [[1953]] - [[20 September]] [[2004]]) was a foreign hostage in Iraq, beheaded by his captors in 2004.
==Background==
Armstrong, also known by his [[nickname]] "Jack", grew up in the south-central [[Michigan]] community of [[Hillsdale, Michigan|Hillsdale]], where he lived until [[1990]].{{Fact|date=March 2008}}
==Work in Iraq==
Armstrong was an [[United States|American]] contractor working in [[Iraq]] for the [[construction]] firm ''Gulf Supplies and Commercial Services'' of the [[United Arab Emirates]].<ref name="employer">{{Cite web|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/09/20/iraq.beheading/|title=Video shows American hostage beheaded|accessdate=2008-03-30|publisher=CNN|year=2004-09-20}}</ref>
==Capture and murder==
After being taken hostage on [[September 16]] [[2004]], Armstrong was [[decapitation|beheaded]]<ref name=factbox>[http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSL297059220070531 FACTBOX-Prominent kidnappings of foreigners in Iraq] Accessed 12 March 2008.</ref> on [[20 September]] [[2004]] by the [[Tawhid and Jihad]] militant group.<ref name="captors">{{Cite web|url=http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2004/09/20/hostage040920.html|title=American hostage beheaded: video|accessdate=2008-03-30|publisher=CBC|year=2004-09-20}}</ref> [[Abu Musab al-Zarqawi]] admitted that he personally beheaded Armstrong. [http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/2004/09/web_site_american_hostage_killed_in_iraq/] The following day, the group [[decapitation|beheaded]] fellow American [[Jack Hensley]], and threatened to kill their third hostage, Briton [[Kenneth Bigley]], unless the [[United States of America|United States]] met their demands to free all women prisoners in Iraqi jails.<ref name="demands">{{Cite web|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/09/20/iraq.beheading/|title=Video shows American hostage beheaded|accessdate=2008-03-30|publisher=CNN|year=2004-09-20}}</ref> Bigley was later beheaded in October 2004.<ref name=factbox/>
==See also==
* [[Daniel Pearl]]
* [[Nick Berg]]
* [[Paul Marshall Johnson, Jr.]]
* [[Kim Sun-il]]
* [[Shosei Koda]]
* [[Jack Hensley]]
* [[Kenneth Bigley]]
* [[2003 invasion of Iraq]]
* [[Human rights situation in post-Saddam Iraq]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Armstrong, Eugene}}
[[Category:1953 births]]
[[Category:2004 deaths]]
[[Category:Deaths by decapitation]]
[[Category:Filmed deaths]]
[[Category:Foreign hostages in Iraq]]
[[Category:American murder victims]]
[[Category:American people taken hostage]]
[[Category:American terrorism victims]]
[[Category:Terrorism deaths in Iraq]]
[[fi:Eugene Armstrong]]