Senators John Kerry and Ted Kennedy have supported Ms Durkin's family's call for a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding her death.

Ciara was the 8th of 9 children, all born in Ireland. After retiring as a teacher in Galway, the father, Tom Durkin returned to the US with his wife, Angela, and settled in Dorchester in 1986 when Ciara was 9. He died of a heart attack several weeks after the family moved to Boston.

As a young girl, she attended St. Mark’s Elementary School in Dorchester. She joined the Army National Guard in October 2005 after getting laid off from her information technology job at Fenway Health.

Brother Pierce Durkin wasn’t home when Ciara called from Afghanistan to wish him a happy birthday. Hours later, after learning that she had been killed, he listened to her singing ‘‘Happy Birthday’’ again.

Unfortunately the truth will probably never be known.