The base might have continued to devour its soldiers had it not been for a missing soldiers family whose rage, love, and devotion would attract the attention of the media, celebrities, and later the White House, sparking congressional and military investigations. Also that year, Marine Lance Corporal Maria Lauterbach was raped by her superior, which she reported. On August 17, Sergeant Elder Fernandes, 23, disappeared. And yet: The data is not really out of the ordinary for U.S. military bases. What is behind the violence and tragedy at Fort Hood? (According to Killeen police, no such vests were found at the scene of the crash. 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. Fernandes transferred to another unit where he was called a snitch and worse. Maxwell Hockin. On August 28, Chee was called into a training run. Sewell is the latest soldier to disappear from the base after a series of soldiers disappeared in the past few years. Because what the military asks of its men and women is so antisocial, it must co-opt the rhetoric of the family. Thirteen killed themselves. Those remains, it turned out, belonged to yet another soldier, Private Gregory Wedel-Morales, who had gone missing the previous summer. Linda Schweers, whose specialist son, Justin, died in a car crash in June while suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, wanted me to "be careful of cartels," which she said ran the area. In fact, Casteel had been convinced that CIA agents were attacking him since last June. The base might have continued to devour its soldiers had it not been for a missing soldier's family whose rage, love, and devotion would attract the attention of the media, celebrities, and later the White House, sparking congressional and military investigations. Yet instead of being taken into custody, Robinson was placed in a conference room on base, initially, it was said, for committing adultery, which is against the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Death Notices Famous Deaths Search Wednesday, March 01, 2023 Audrie Talmadge "A.T." Powell 10 hrs ago Services for Audrie Talmadge "A.T." Powell, 78, will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday at Salado. On April 30, 2021, Fort Hood found that Guillen had indeed been sexually harassed by a soldier, but not Robinson.). After he returned to Fort Hood, Rodriguez managed to get Casteel on a video call. The ancient Greeks wrote epic poems on the subject, the most famous of which is the Iliad. 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. There, Wedel-Moraless remains had been found, long ago decomposed in the Texas heat. He got home around 2 p.m. and told his wife, Gloria, about the unusual aches. Robinson himself left soon thereafter, he would testify, to spend the night off post with his girlfriend. Five were murdered. Inside the Rash of Unexplained Deaths at Fort Hood | Vanity Fair Fernandess family told me they have never been interviewed. His body was found nearly a month later, two miles from the barracks. SHARE. Five were murdered. He had been happy enough there that in February he reenlisted for an additional four years. Guillen's youngest sister, Lupe, says. I felt a bad vibe there, Lupe says, referring to Fort Hood. The tributaries that run through Fort Hood flow into the Leon River, where Guillens remains were later found. Dozens of people were killed, died by suicide, or went missing from the Texas military base last year alone. Rodriguez sensed something was off. After a chase along Rancier Avenue, the same street near which Lovell was found dead, Robinson shot himself and died. You can find Osama bin Laden, but you cant find a soldier that went missing on your own base? Guillens youngest sister, Lupe, says. Guillen confessed that she was being harassed by another soldier. Later that year, Private Dakota Lee Stump left his barracks to report for work less than a mile away but never arrived for formation. They pointed glumly to past cases, some of which there were public records for and others I could find no traces of in the official files. By then Wedel-Morales had grown distant from his family in Oklahoma, who had not been told of the marriage. 6 min read. Eventually Fernandes rang from the Army hospital. There was a deep cut above his left eye, and cuts all over his legs. Sgt. My caution wasn't entirely unfounded. Mayra wept during the journey, already fearing the worst. Rodriguez sensed something was off. He told his sister there were three white soldiers who "did not like him." The author knocks on the doors bearing the darkest symbols, behind which lie guns, ammo, antisemitism, antiabortion dogmaand a belief in the coming civil war. As soon as I get out of the hospital, I will call you. His killers were never looked for properly and thus never found. In the same week, Private Edward Casteel, who had been missing from Fort Hood since October 6, was found in a parish jail in Louisiana, arrested after a high-speed chase. Despite 10,000 hours of investigation and 300 interviews, much about Guillens death remained a mystery. On May 19, military investigators went through Robinson's phone and learned that he had called his girlfriend, Cecily Aguilar, multiple times on the night of April 22, as late as 3:30 a.m., from a town 20 miles east of Fort Hooddespite his claim he had been with Aguilar that night. There had been a few people, then it was a group run of 11. In 2018, a soldier was allegedly shot and killed in her front yard by her husband at Fort Campbell, in Kentucky, which also has one of the highest rates of suicide in the Army. There she encountered Specialist Aaron Robinson, also 20 years old but a rank above. 20, 2021 FORT HOOD, Texas The death of Spc. Basic details of the incident kept changing. 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. His body was mostly intact but for his hyoid, which was never found. The Truth Behind Fort Hood's History Of Violent Crime Texas - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Martinez joined the Army in April 2018 as a cannoneer, according to base officials. I am astounded nobody is interested, the Fernandes family lawyer Lenny Kesten told me. Here are some of the tragic deaths that have plagued the base in recent months: Pvt. There was a deep cut above his left eye, and cuts all over his legs. Who were the soldiers who had testified to seeing Guillen leave the arms room the day she disappeared? He was assigned to the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division. Why had it taken forensics 72 days to conduct a search of the arms room? He told his sister there were three white soldiers who did not like him. On August 28, Chee was called into a training run. The day after Guillen disappeared, Private Gavin Chambers, 21, died on base. Creating an obituary on Echovita is free. 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. If not, what explained the false accounting? Last year, at least 39 Fort Hood soldiers died or went missing. Chee had joined the military in part to support the young family he was starting with his high school sweetheart turned fiance. (He was found a day later.) At first blush, such violence at a base that calls itself "the Great Place" may seem extraordinary, inexplicable even. Frantic, she called around, to no avail. Fort Hood concluded Chee had died in training. But at Fort Hood, it sometimes seemed like "mission first, equipment second," he said, highlighting the paradox of the military that in word puts the well-being of soldiers first but in deed must, by design, favor combat readiness over all else. The police too told Ailina that Fernandes was an adult and that they would not report him as missing. Inside the rash of explained deaths at Fort Hood - HotAir The murder of Vanessa Guilln, a 20-year-old United States Army soldier, took place inside an armory at Fort Hood, Texas, on April 22, 2020, when she was bludgeoned to death by another soldier, Aaron David Robinson. Anthony Nevelle Peak Jr. Hogan, 19, and Peak Jr., 21, were both killed in a. Congress launched an investigation of Fort Hood citing the deaths and other felonies that occurred on the fort between 2014-2019. . Everything we know about the 16 soldier deaths at Fort Hood this year A Year of Heartbreak and Bloodshed at Fort Hood - New York Times IMCOM is not responsible for the content of links outside home.army.mil. This memory now refreshed, Gloria began asking around for a name and soon learned it through Guillens friend: Aaron Robinson, the last person to have seen her daughter. Rodriguez disputes this claim. The Lovell case was ruled an accident despite the fact that a rival club's biker vest, or kutte, was found hanging neatly from a tree near the crash site, while his motorcyclemirror, taillightswas found intact. "None of the messages added up, nor were they how he usually speaks to me," Rodriguez told me. Army major kills 13 people in Fort Hood shooting spree I've lost brothers and sisters in arms, a marriage, I've lost family, I've lost friendships that were supposed to be forever. She pleaded not guilty. 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. The tributaries that run through Fort Hood flow into the Leon River, where Guillen's remains were later found. Hood was an unsuccessful battle commander; 400 men of his Texas Brigade died in a single fight, some would argue through incautious direction. On Wednesday, April 22, 2020, Guillen reported for duty at Fort Hood. Despite 10,000 hours of investigation and 300 interviews, much about Guillen's death remained a mystery. After 8 p.m., Guillen's sister Mayra called the base. None of the grunts I spoke to was surprised by the number of casualties. 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. Texas as of 9 July 2021; some devices had already been sold and shipped. Fort Hood soldier found dead behind barracks, investigation underway Officials identified the soldier as 26-year-old Spc. Hockin was found dead behind his company barracks. Remains of soldiers have been turning up around the Texas military base with terrifying frequency. The pursuit of happiness, or simply stability, will invariably lure people to the American military, which may be why the undocumented, the indigent, or those with a criminal record are overrepresented in its ranks. Army investigating after another soldier is found dead at Fort Hood (The person who called in with the tip declined to collect the reward. By then, the Army, it seemed, had stopped providing Wedel-Morales with a sense of purpose, and he had turned to alternate sources of meaning, namely car and motorcycle clubs, and life beyond the base. It rained that night, and the drive, which should have taken three hours, was slow going. I've even lost myself." Death Notices | kdhnews.com - The Killeen Daily Herald My caution wasnt entirely unfounded. "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.' The figures coming out of the deaths at Fort Hood are depressing, as reported in Vanity Fair. But as Beyer would soon realize, Finchs past wasnt what she claimedand Beyers own difficult history was up for the taking. Eleven of the deaths remain unresolvedsome legally; others for the victims' families. Fertility Rate. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. The coming months brought the suicides of Staff Sergeant Richard Harrington, 45, and then Specialist James Green, 23. Last year, at least 39 Fort Hood soldiers died or went missing. On June 30, a construction crew found shallow graves containing human remains that belonged to Guillen. (Fort Hood does not count Moore in its official casualty list, as he was a member of the National Guard.). A sergeant from Guillens division called it mandatory fun days. The additional scrutinythe congressional delegation visit, press toursmeant that soldiers had to work harder. Maxwell Hockin, 26, was. Maxwell Hockin. It's possible. The deaths of Fort Hood soldiers have gained international attention in recent months after the slaying of Vanessa Guillen, a 20-year-old Army specialist the authorities say was killed on. The Idaho Murders, Part 1: How 4 College Kids Lived and Loved. Fort Hood was founded in January 1942 as a training ground for tank destroyers, selected for its varied terrain. (The police opened an investigation on August 19.) (Fort Hood does not count Moore in its official casualty list, as he was a member of the National Guard.). Also that year, Marine Lance Corporal Maria Lauterbach was raped by her superior, which she reported. 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. -. To revist this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. You can click this link to create an obituary. 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. The U.S. Army on Tuesday announced the removal . On August 13, Staff Sergeant Bradley Moore died during a land navigation exercise on the base. 26 Fort Hood soldiers have died this year, officials say - KWTX Maxwell Hockin, the Central . Toxic leadership is nothing new. On June 30, a construction crew found shallow graves containing human remains that belonged to Guillen. A group of soldiers, including Robinson, greeted them. The Montreal Mafia Murders: Blood, Gore, Cannolis, and Hockey Bags, Scene Stealer: The True Lies of Elisabeth Finch, Part 2. 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. (Fort Hood) A soldier in the 1st Cavalry Division was found dead Saturday in his company area, according to a statement from. Boots and hat at Vanessa Guillens memorial, Killeen TX, Jeffrey Epsteins Decades-Long Relationship. (Fort Hood refused all official interview requests for this story, citing ongoing investigations. And on June 19, skeletal remains were found in a field behind a cul-de-sac of a residential neighborhood in Killeen. He also wanted an education, and "joining the Army he knew he could take care of all of that," his sister Carma Johnson says. 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. Fernandes was dropped off at his friends house the next day, never to be seen again. So when, the following spring, Fort Hood offered a $15,000 reward for information about Guillen, then raised it to $25,000 in June, Kim called to demand the same. On Wednesday, April 22, 2020, Guillen reported for duty at Fort Hood. On April 30, 2021, Fort Hood found that Guillen had indeed been sexually harassed by a soldier, but not Robinson.). In 2007, also in Iraq, Specialist Kamisha Blocks death was ruled an accident by a single shot of friendly fire before the family received the body and saw that she had five gunshot wounds, including one to the head. Fort Hood has been the center of a bizarre and horrific set of tragedies in 2020. The very next day, a Fort Hood investigation concluded that Fernandess charges of sexual assault were unsubstantiated.
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