(According to Killeen police, no such vests were found at the scene of the crash. They returned several days later to pour concrete over the remains. Without any sense of purpose, the suffering at Fort Hood had started to lose its meaning. The suicides, which reportedly jumped by as much as 20 percent across the military last year, work out to a rate of one soldier a month. Namely, the military. As publication approached, it stopped responding to emails pertaining to both specific questions about individual cases as well as broader queries about the base.). But with each encounter, it was becoming clear that the military had not failed its soldiers at all. Army disciplines 21 at Fort Hood in probe of soldier's death - Spokesman Fort Hood is the Army's premier installation to train and deploy heavy forces. Basic details of the incident kept changing. In other battles, having lost the use of his arm and later a leg, Hood had to be strapped to a horse for combat. Staff Sergeant Devin Schuette was found dead in his pickup truck, fitted with a hose running from the exhaust pipe to the cabin, in January 2016. 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. Thomas Berg, whose son Private Brandon Rosecrans's Jeep was found burning in May, told me not to go out after dark. Eleven of the deaths remain unresolvedsome legally; others for the victims' families. Fort Hood concluded Chee had died in training. I asked him directly if he wasnt willing to speak because of position and he signaled yes, and he said, Id rather tell you in person. , Several days later, Rodriguez learned that Casteel had been committed to a hospital on base. 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. Escorts should be arranged in advance to allow for coordination with the organization receiving coverage. On the night of August 19, Wedel-Morales went out to Club Fuego, located in a desolate strip mall about 10 miles east of Fort Hood. Rodriguez sensed something was off. Two witnesses had seen Robinson roll a black cargo box out of the arms room and through the parking lot, where he loaded it into his car and drove away, contradicting an earlier affidavit from three soldiers who falsely claimed they had seen Guillen departing the arms room earlier. These figures eclipse American casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq in the same year. It is unclear if Killeen even bothered to visit his namesake town, which, by the early 1880s, comprised 40 people living across 360 acres, mostly working in the two cotton gins, two gristmills, and two saloonsit had the most saloons, gamblers, and shootings per capita in Bell County, according to historian Martha Bowmer. Fort Hood is one of 800 United States military bases around the world, the third largest in the country. The search party arrived at Fort Hood at 3 a.m. Guillens staff sergeant told the group to come back in the morning. 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. [2] Fernandes was dropped off at his friends house the next day, never to be seen again. On most nights, I had nightmares. Chee, like Yazzie, was a member of the Ramah Navajo Indian Reservation community, and was new to the base. In 1941, Private Felix Hall was lynched by fellow soldiers, at Fort Benning, Georgia. Ive lost so much since Ive been in. Red White and Blue via The US Army is licensed with CC BY-ND 2.0. Killeen was named after another disappointing man: Frank Killeen, an assistant general manager to the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railway. A small minority, which bikers call "one percent" groups, and which the Department of Justice calls by the regrettable acronym OMG, or outlaw motorcycle gangs, were the people Wedel-Morales had been hanging around with. Fort Hood soldier found dead behind barracks, investigation underway Officials identified the soldier as 26-year-old Spc. The problem with Fort Hood: Violence, deaths and disappearances - MEAWW First came the British and Germans. But then certain details start illuminating the mystery: that one out of three women soldiers have experienced sexual harassment, according to a recent survey. 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. Yes, simply click Add a photo located underneath the main photo of the obituary then upload the photos/videos you wish to share. Before Guillen, there had been Private LaVena Lynn Johnson, who was found dead in a tent in 2005 in Iraq. He got home around 2 p.m. and told his wife, Gloria, about the unusual aches. 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. A group of soldiers, including Robinson, greeted them. 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). Deaths of 2 female Army soldiers probed in Texas, 1 fatally shot on Mayra wept during the journey, already fearing the worst. Army major kills 13 people in Fort Hood shooting spree Hazel Buck Blackwell, whose family lost their farm, homestead, barns, orchards, and adjoining land when the base took over, said the closest thing might be the unexpected death of someone you loved very much. It was a heartrending, searing experience, central Texas historian GraDelle Duncan said, leaving lifetime marks on all, and actually killing some from the psychic devastation that followed. Dozens of Deaths at Fort Hood in 2020: Is 'Toxic Culture' at - People On August 17, Sergeant Elder Fernandes, 23, disappeared. As distressing as the remains in shallow graves or the missing hyoid bone is the fatalism from soldiers and locals alike. Last December, an internal investigation found that Fort Hoods culture, environment, and leadership resulted in women feeling vulnerable and preyed upon, with no reliable recourse for their very real sense of duress. Hockin was found dead behind his company barracks. Fort Hood announced that Stump had crashed his car while driving under the influence, though a toxicology report proved inconclusive. How had he managed to escapeand where had he gotten his gun? Death Notices | kdhnews.com - The Killeen Daily Herald 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. On May 18, Brandon Rosecrans's burning Jeep was discovered in a hilly suburb east of Fort Hood. (Marine Lance Corporal Riley Schultzs death on March 15, 2019, at Camp Pendleton in San Diego County, was also ruled a suicide, despite his hyoid being broken. Even then, it was she who had to scare up the $3,500 in bail money, and after Fort Hood sent two officers to pick up Casteel, officials refused to share information with Rodriguez. A few days later, so did 21-year-old Specialist Trey Ring. This memory now refreshed, Gloria began asking around for a name and soon learned it through Guillen's friend: Aaron Robinson, the last person to have seen her daughter. Also that year, Marine Lance Corporal Maria Lauterbach was raped by her superior, which she reported. The plan, Wedel-Morales told anyone who would listen, was to use the G.I. 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. WASHINGTON (AP) The Army said Friday that it has taken disciplinary action against 21 officers and non-commissioned officers at Fort Hood, Texas, in connection with death last year of Spc. ", 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. WASHINGTON - The Army said Friday that it has taken disciplinary action against 21 officers and non-commissioned officers at Fort Hood, Texas, in connection with death last year of Spc.. Atop these sedimentary layers of desecration, displacement, and disorientation, the War Department set out to build a base that would go on to serve as a footnote to nearly every war in modern memoryKorea, Vietnam, Bosnia, Iraq, and Afghanistan, but also Grenada, Panama, and the Cuban Missile Crisis. When Ailina offered the Fort Hood authorities the contents of her son's car, including a laptop, iPad, and external hard drive, they declined to investigate further. The story appears in the July/August 2021 issue of Vanity Fair.I enthusiastically recommend this article. Fort Hood Soldier's Mother Pushes for Change After Death - Spectrum News Before Guillen, there had been Private LaVena Lynn Johnson, who was found dead in a tent in 2005 in Iraq. There she encountered Specialist Aaron Robinson, also 20 years old but a rank above. The numbers are distressing. 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. The very next day, a Fort Hood investigation concluded that Fernandes's charges of sexual assault were unsubstantiated. Fort Hood - KXXV Why was Robinson not put under watch? 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. Mayra wept during the journey, already fearing the worst. Curiously, a few hours after the officers picked up Casteel, he went silent online. They are part of Killeens population of 151,000, many transient and very young, two thirds of whom have military ties. Within days of arriving at Fort Hood, Chees clothes were stolen. ", "I'm 21 now, and let me tell you. THE MURDERS AT FORT HOOD Remains of soldiers have been turning up around the Texas military base with terrifying frequency. When his parents rushed to the hospital, they saw that Chee, lying unconscious, had bruises and scrapes on his chin and on both sides of his face. A U.S. Army soldier, Spc. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. Because what the military asks of its men and women is so antisocial, it must co-opt the rhetoric of the family. As soon as I get out of the hospital, I will call you. Fort Hood's Vanessa Guillen Tragedy Leads to Army-Wide Overhaul of Green Beret training death special forces training soldier dies in training army training . They checked into a nearby hotel and returned at 8 a.m. the next day. Army Investigating How Fort Hood Soldier Found Unresponsive Behind Women, who make up 17 percent of active-duty military, were doubly bereft, and the case files were awash with stories of the dead. Most of the groups were aboveboard, even as they were ruled by certain strictures for meeting attendance, dress code, and how to appropriately signal respect. His killers were never looked for properly and thus never found. There were no Black residents in town until the early 1950s. At 9:30 p.m., Mayra, Cruz, Guillens other sister Yovana, and Yovanas boyfriend set out for Fort Hood. May Jeong has written an in-depth analysis of the rash of unexplained deaths at Fort Hood. In fact, Casteel had been convinced that CIA agents were attacking him since last June.