Fort Hood concluded Chee had died in training. Next I passed Club Dreams, where Specialist Shelby Jones was shot, bled out, and died last March; then Guns Galore, where Army psychiatrist Major Nidal Hasan purchased a semiautomatic pistol that he would use to kill 13 people in 2009. -. Far from itthe military was operating as it had been intended. Sergeant Brad Reynolds, 37, killed himself on May 16. A U.S. Army soldier, Spc. Before Guillen, there had been Private LaVena Lynn Johnson, who was found dead in a tent in 2005 in Iraq. Casteel had been stationed at Fort Hood since the end of June, where hed been bullied for a spinal injury that consigned him to desk duties. Eleven of the deaths remain unresolvedsome legally; others for the victims'. Maxwell Hockin, 26, joined the U.S. Army in 2017. Specialist Vanessa Guillens father, Rogelio, wondered if I shouldnt carry a gun. The wave of pain went away as suddenly as it had come on but returned again, and again, and again, over the next hour. There, Wedel-Moraless remains had been found, long ago decomposed in the Texas heat. Today, Reform Austin is attempting to put the entire chain of events into a concise timeline for our readers. Chee, like Yazzie, was a member of the Ramah Navajo Indian Reservation community, and was new to the base. Jennifer Anthony Lovells sister, Temple Tx. That an overwhelming majority of the towns economy comes from Fort Hood makes Killeen a kind of rentier state, in that most of its revenue comes through a foreign entity, which historically has led to the collapse of domestic industries, leading to increased dependence on a single source of income. Killeen itself sits on an especially brutal stretch of central Texas, along the Balcones Fault, which separates the high plains of the Hill Country to the west from the grand prairies and limestone plains of the east, and along which runs Interstate 35. Spc. The 20-year-old US Army soldier died in a Fort Hood, Texas,. It was unclear, in 2020, what American soldiers were fighting for. He had messaged his sister beforehand to tell her something felt off. Texan sentenced to 20 years following drug-related death of Fort Hood soldier. Nearly 200 miles away in Houston, Rogelio Guillen was entering his fourth hour of work at a nickel-plating factory when he felt a sharp spasm in his chest. The 20-year-old small arms specialist, then a private first class, was supposed to be off that day, so she showed up in civilian clothesblack tee, purple leggings, and a fanny pack. But with each encounter, it was becoming clear that the military had not failed its soldiers at all. She pleaded not guilty. Fort Hood soldier found dead behind barracks, investigation underway Officials identified the soldier as 26-year-old Spc. February 26, 2023 (50 years old) View obituary. At first blush, such violence at a base that calls itself the Great Place may seem extraordinary, inexplicable even. The shakeup comes after after a series of suspicious deaths and disappearances that have plagued Fort Hood. As distressing as the remains in shallow graves or the missing hyoid bone is the fatalism from soldiers and locals alike. She filled out the paperwork that is the lifeblood of the Army before heading toward the arms room, a few paces away. Later Fort Hood confirmed it was for violating quarantine. That American imperialism is imploding, and the blast force radiates inward. There had been a few people, then it was a group run of 11. Around the Guillen murals in Killeen and in Houston, I met people who had lost loved ones to the military, who felt harm done, who saw in Guillen a savior. After he returned to Fort Hood, Rodriguez managed to get Casteel on a video call. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. ), Wedel-Moraless death was not the first from the base that may have involved bike gangs. How had he managed to escapeand where had he gotten his gun? Here are some of the tragic deaths that have plagued the base in recent months: Pvt. There were no Black residents in town until the early 1950s. Killeen was named after another disappointing man: Frank Killeen, an assistant general manager to the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railway. Maxwell Hockin, the Central . The military, Rodriguez said, had known about this but had refused to treat him. Rosecrans, shot four times, was found three miles from his vehicle. Lenz's mother, Margie Taylor, said her son loved children and looked forward to having a family of his own one day. Why hadn't the arms room been treated like the crime scene it was? When Elisabeth Finch met Jennifer Beyer in 2019, the two women forged a fiercely loyal friendship, and eventually got married. Curiously, a few hours after the officers picked up Casteel, he went silent online. (On July 14,2020, a federal grand injury indicted Aguilar on one count of conspiracy and two counts of tampering with evidence. Atop these sedimentary layers of desecration, displacement, and disorientation, the U.S. War Department set out to build a base that would go on to serve as a footnote to nearly every war in modern memory. Dont they care as to what happened to Elder Fernandes? That is the opposite of what hes been consistently saying.. The corpse had been dead for a while, though it was impossible to determine exactly how long. Namely, the military. I guess my point is, Rodriguez told me, if everything was fine, the way Fort Hood officials would lead us to believe, then why would this soldier, out of character, leave base without permission, and [why] did he not feel comfortable enough to call his captain or anyone on that base once he was arrested for speeding? Guillen's youngest sister, Lupe, says. After hours, media should call the Emergency Operations Center at (254) 287-2054 and ask for the on-call PAO. And yet: The data is not really out of the ordinary for U.S. military bases. Amid all those other deaths, on June 21, 2020, a search party found the charred lid of a cargo box along the Leon River 20 miles east of Fort Hood. The purported motto of the Army was family first, mission second, Gary Shafer, a noncommissioned officer who served at Fort Hood from 2012 to 2018 and who knew Wedel-Morales through the car-club scene, told me. The vast emptiness that is most of the state can make you feel inconsequential, as if you could disappear and no one would know you ever lived. If not, what explained the false accounting? Fort Worth (817) 293-8477 Laurel Land Funeral Home and Cemetery 7100 Crowley Road, Fort Worth . Morta's death comes amid intense scrutiny of Fort Hood in recent weeks. And how well will that look on your rsum?, Im 21 now, and let me tell you. Give me the name and I will report the bastard, Gloria told her daughter, who refused to tell her mother more for fear of worrying her, and also, Gloria later suspected, for fear of reprisal. Last year, at least 39 Fort Hood soldiers died or went missing. May Jeong has written an in-depth analysis of the rash of unexplained deaths at Fort Hood. Joel Leal 12:18 PM, Oct 11, 2022 . Texas Death Records, 1890-1976 includes scanned copies of the death certificates Texas Death Records, 1977-1986 includes digitized copies of the death certificates; not yet complete. It installed 35 firing ranges, 18 chapels, three bowling alleys, and 1,384 barracks that would house, at its peak, 95,000 soldiers, the most densely populated military base, at a cost of $35 million. On May 18, Brandon Rosecrans's burning Jeep was discovered in a hilly suburb east of Fort Hood. The Times found 159 noncombat deaths of Fort Hood soldiers since the beginning of 2016, which included seven homicides and 71 suicides. Five were murdered. Last December, an internal investigation found that Fort Hood's culture, environment, and leadership resulted in women feeling "vulnerable and preyed upon," with no reliable recourse for their very real sense of duress. As soon as I get out of the hospital, I will call you. Copyright 2023 Echovita Inc. All rights reserved. Military bases are the last piece of the homeland that soldiers see before they are deployed to fight and the first glimpse of home when they return. I will tell you everything." Traveling in the time of plague, trying to build rapport with people from six feet away, was enervating. A soldier stationed at Fort Hood, Texas, was found dead over the weekend behind a barracks, according to local media reports, adding to the rash of deaths and disappearances of soldiers. Fort Hood is a United States Army post located near Killeen, . When the family exhumed his body in November 2020 for want of a second opinion, the independent autopsy revealed that the bone had in fact gone missing.) Fort Hood informed Rodriguez that he had asked for this. Highway renamed & dedicated to late Fort Hood soldier . But the only among the victims may be the institution that them all to. The police too told Ailina that Fernandes was an adult and that they would not report him as missing. The U.S. Army on Tuesday announced the removal . Four days later, an anonymous tip directed investigators to an urban prairie at the end of a residential street where Penny Morales used to live. "I asked him directly if he wasn't willing to speak because of position and he signaled yes, and he said, 'l'd rather tell you in person.' Vanessa Guilln, who was missing for about two months before her remains were found. The area, east of Killeen, was built on 109,000 acres of high bluffs, ridges, sharp slopes, and mesa-like hills covered with mesquite and chaparral. In fact, Casteel had been convinced that CIA agents were attacking him since last June. What is behind the violence and tragedy at Fort Hood? On August 25, a rail worker in Temple, Texas, 26 miles east of Fort Hood, saw a body hanging from a tree across from a burned-out warehouse near the tracks. U.S. ARMY INSTALLATION MANAGEMENT COMMAND Last year, at least 39 Fort Hood soldiers died or went missing. "He seemed weird," Rodriguez said. To revist this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. In January 2017, Fox News cited reports to say the Army and local police were probing deaths of 11 Fort Hood soldiers who died on and off the base in the months before under mysterious circumstances, as per reports. (Among 1.29 million members of the U.S. military, 65,000 are immigrants, according to The Washington Post.) . First it was a five-mile run, then it was a two-mile run. Yes, simply click Add a photo located underneath the main photo of the obituary then upload the photos/videos you wish to share. On May 11, however, Fernandes reported to Fort Hood "abusive sexual contact" from a staff sergeant, whom he alleged groped him in a supply room, according to the redacted military investigation report. "For nothing.". A group of soldiers, including Robinson, greeted them. And yet: The data is not really out of the ordinary for U.S. military bases. Garrison Policies and Regulations. Had one of them stood in for Guillen during roll call? Robinson gave Guillen the serial number for a .50 caliber machine gun that needed servicing. Without any sense of purpose, the suffering at Fort Hood had started to lose its meaning. (According to Killeen police, no such vests were found at the scene of the crash. There was a deep cut above his left eye, and cuts all over his legs. Reformers would say that the military had failed its men and women. Casteel had been stationed at Fort Hood since the end of June, where he'd been bullied for a spinal injury that consigned him to desk duties. Thirteen killed themselves. Police reopen case into Fort Hood soldier's death Austin December 25, 2022 Weather View Your 7-Day Forecast Here MILITARY Family hopeful for answers after police reopen case into Fort Hood soldier's death By Olivia Levada Texas PUBLISHED 4:24 PM CT Apr. At first, Aguilar told investigators, they cut her up using a machete. The Army's own investigation found "major flaws" at Fort Hood, leading to the firing or suspending of 14 officials. The U.S. Army identified a soldier found dead behind his company barracks at Fort Hood last week as 26-year-old Spc. Eventually Fernandes rang from the Army hospital. The back-to-back deaths come just four months after two congressional committees launched probes into the high number of deaths at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas, in 2020, highlighted by the . Terrie Boley, whose daughter Candance became addicted to crack cocaine while serving at Fort Hood and was murdered in a motel room in 2011, told me not to drink the water. But as Beyer would soon realize, Finchs past wasnt what she claimedand Beyers own difficult history was up for the taking. She is now for the movement.. None of the messages added up, nor were they how he usually speaks to me, Rodriguez told me. They married in May 2017, and he took her name with hyphenation. Tributes.com is the online source for current local and national obituary news. What happened on that base and in the Army to cause this person who is normally very [kind] and responsive to all of a sudden leave and shut down?, When I asked soldiers at Fort Hood what they thought was the matter on base, they mentioned toxic leadership, a catholic term that seemed to encompass all: lack of care, general command climate, and so-called toxic masculinity. I've even lost myself." At least 159 Fort Hood soldiers died out of combat between 2016 and last year, including seven homicides and 71 suicides, according to an analysis by The New York Times. By then Wedel-Morales had grown distant from his family in Oklahoma, who had not been told of the marriage. First came the British and Germans. She had also missed her standing noon call with her fianc, Juan Cruz. He had also gotten married without telling his family, been evicted from his apartment, and stopped showing up to work. (Fort Hood contributed nearly $30 billion to the Texas economy in 2019, according to the Texas comptroller's office.). (Fort Hood does not count Moore in its official casualty list, as he was a member of the National Guard.). How had he managed to escapeand where had he gotten his gun? Washington CNN The Army announced Tuesday that 14 senior officers will be punished following a probe that was initiated after the murder of a soldier and several other deaths at the Army's. Thirteen killed themselves. More than 2,200 trials over land rights commenced. The new family, like more than 70 percent of all Fort Hood service members, lived off post, but after two dead bodies were found on their street, they moved into base housing. Anthony Nevelle Peak Jr. Hogan, 19, and Peak Jr., 21, were both killed in a. None of the grunts I spoke to was surprised by the number of casualties. Fort Hood had refused to list him as missing, and it was only after his then fiance, Paradise Rodriguez, posted a video on Facebook that an officer at the parish jail saw it and got into contact. Thomas Berg, whose son Private Brandon Rosecranss Jeep was found burning in May, told me not to go out after dark. She pleaded not guilty. Later the same day, at 8:30 p.m., Aaron Robinson's girlfriend, Cecily Aguilar, changed her story and told Army investigators that Robinson had confessed to her that he killed Guillen in the arms room, beating her to death with a hammer. But then certain details start illuminating the mystery: that one out of three women soldiers have experienced sexual harassment, according to a recent survey. Sergeant Brad Reynolds, 37, killed himself on May 16. (The person who called in with the tip declined to collect the reward. On Wednesday, April 22, 2020, Guillen reported for duty at Fort Hood. Schuette's body was returned to his family "wrapped like a mummy." (He was found a day later.) Specialist Justen Ogden's death in July 2017 was ruled a suicide, but the suicide note Fort Hood produced as evidence did not match his handwriting, according to his mother, Toni. Despite 10,000 hours of investigation and 300 interviews, much about Guillen's death remained a mystery. More than 90 lawmakers earlier this month called for an independent review of how the Army handled the disappearance of Spc. Two days after Staff Sergeant Anthony Lovell, 40, disappeared in 2017, his body was found, eyes pecked clean, face split in half, in a creek off Killeen's seedy main corridor called Rancier, the same street where Specialist Freddy Delacruz, 23, was shot and killed last March. Guilln's death triggered a social media movement of former and current military service people speaking out about sexual assault and harassment on the base. US Army Since then, Vanessa's family and their attorney Natalie Khawam have tried to shine a spotlight on a string of deaths at the central Texas installation. He had been happy enough there that in February he reenlisted for an additional four years. "You can find Osama bin Laden, but you can't find a soldier that went missing on your own base?" Fernandes wouldn't share much, nothing about what had caused him to be hospitalized, and said that he was using an insecure base hospital line. Visit this link to create a free obituary then read the advantages of creating an obituary on Echovita and either click Start now or Create an obituary for your loved to begin. There were no Black residents in town until the early 1950s. It was also an ancient Comanche Native American burial ground, discovered when construction workers unearthed more than 2,200 grave sites in 1998. She filled out the paperwork that is the lifeblood of the Army before heading toward the arms room, a few paces away. Sewell is the latest soldier to disappear from the base after a series of soldiers disappeared in the past few years. Rodriguez disputes this claim. As publication approached, it stopped responding to emails pertaining to both specific questions about individual cases as well as broader queries about the base.). This was true of many I met at Fort Hood, including press officer Major Gabriela Thompson, my tour guide on base, who told me she joined to pay off her student loans: "It was my ticket out," she said, echoing other soldiers' sentiments about how the military had rescued them from hardscrabble existences. = Link to a CAC-required sites . The vast emptiness that is most of the state can make you feel inconsequential, as if you could disappear and no one would know you ever lived. When Kim called Fort Hood inquiring after her son, she was told the case was the remit of the Killeen Police Department as Wedel-Morales had gone missing off base. The Lovell case was ruled an accident despite the fact that a rival clubs biker vest, or kutte, was found hanging neatly from a tree near the crash site, while his motorcyclemirror, taillightswas found intact. Rosecrans, shot four times, was found three miles from his vehicle. American military bases, once established, seldom shutter, and Fort Hood, which started operating during World War II, has remained open for business, its 218,000 acres spreading across two counties in central Texas near an otherwise unremarkable town called Killeen. I felt a bad vibe there, Lupe says, referring to Fort Hood. He told his sister there were three white soldiers who did not like him. On August 28, Chee was called into a training run. Last December, a Special Forces soldier and an Army veteran were found dead at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where another soldier disappeared in May and was later found murdered. Fort Hood informed Rodriguez that he had asked for this. ARMY-WIDE IMPLEMENTATION STATUS. The search party arrived at Fort Hood at 3 a.m. Guillen's staff sergeant told the group to come back in the morning. Family of Fort Hood soldier demands answers after military refuses to release report on his death Chase Lawrence 4 April 2021 Seventeen months have passed since Private First Class (PFC). Fernandess family told me they have never been interviewed. First it was a five-mile run, then it was a two-mile run. Their minds both turned to Vanessa, whose hourly texts to family members had gone silent. Fertility Rate. Fernandes was dropped off at his friends house the next day, never to be seen again. Ive even lost myself. (Ring returned to base of his own accord later that day.). The rolling, semi-arid terrain is ideal for multifaceted training and testing of military units and troops. Alvis Franklin Bentley. Oct 13, 2021 An official Army photo of Spc. Since being stationed at Fort Hood in November 2016, Wedel-Morales had frequented the Dollhouse, a strip club not far from where his remains would eventually be found. March 1, 2023 (94 years old) View obituary. But with each encounter, it was becoming clear that the military had not failed its soldiers at all. Failure to comply could incur fines of hundreds of dollars or other, more severe social censure. They returned several days later to pour concrete over the remains. Women, who make up 17 percent of active-duty military, were doubly bereft, and the case files were awash with stories of the dead. Barely a week later, Private Corlton Chee, 25, died during training. (According to Killeen police, no such vests were found at the scene of the crash. Fort Bragg; which has nearly double the soldier population as Fort Hood, is reporting 24 deaths so far this year, with five of them happening in accidents, one homicide, seven from illness,. (On July 14, 2020, a federal grand injury indicted Aguilar on one count of conspiracy and two counts of tampering with evidence. Don't they care as to what happened to Elder Fernandes? Dominic Criqui, who served in Vanessa Guillens unit, says that the training had come to feel stupid and pointless. What on earth are you training for? he asks, then answers.
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