Barely a week later, Private Corlton Chee, 25, died during training. Basic details of the incident kept changing. During the run, Chee, who had no preexisting health conditions, collapsed. Eric Christopher Hogan and Pfc. Mayra wept during the journey, already fearing the worst. It was also an ancient Comanche Native American burial ground, discovered when construction workers unearthed more than 2,200 grave sites in 1998. 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.) Fernandes had just been stationed at Fort Hood in January. So much of reporting is opening yourself up to chance, and there I was, compulsively locking and relocking the rental car door. He told his sister there were three white soldiers who "did not like him." Chris and Moses friends of Gregory Wedel-Morales at the site of his remains, Killeen TX. As distressing as the remains in shallow graves or the missing hyoid bone is the fatalism from soldiers and locals alike. 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. Thomas Berg, whose son Private Brandon Rosecranss Jeep was found burning in May, told me not to go out after dark. Agamemnon demonstrates disrespect, vanity, and other lapses in judgment, the result of which is what clinical psychiatrist Jonathan Shay describes as "moral injury"a " (i) betrayal of what's right, (ii) by someone who holds legitimate authority, (iii) in a high stakes situation." Guillen's youngest sister, Lupe, made me promise to stay at the Marriott, a hotel she considered safer than the rest. After he returned to Fort Hood, Rodriguez managed to get Casteel on a video call. A few days later, they spoke again, for the last time. The military, Rodriguez said, had known about this but had refused to treat him. Just before noon, Guillen left her keys, Army ID, and bank cards in one arms room and entered another adjacent arms room, separated by a hallway. When Ailina offered the Fort Hood authorities the contents of her sons car, including a laptop, iPad, and external hard drive, they declined to investigate further. And being mission-ready, the perpetual vigilance it requires, ensures a kind of endless possibility of war, which in turn justifies the $740 billion annual defense budget. They are part of Killeens population of 151,000, many transient and very young, two thirds of whom have military ties. The U.S. Army identified a soldier found dead behind his company barracks at Fort Hood last week as 26-year-old Spc. Frantic, she called around, to no avail. Soon after, the Temple police, who led the investigation, ruled Fernandes's death a suicide. A few days later, they spoke again, for the last time. There she encountered Specialist Aaron Robinson, also 20 years old but a rank above. That September, Wedel-Morales, who was from rural Oklahoma, was due to be honorably discharged from the military. Its possible. His body was found nearly a month later, two miles from the barracks. 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. Why had it taken forensics 72 days to conduct a search of the arms room? The Army's own investigation found "major flaws" at Fort Hood, leading to the firing or suspending of 14 officials. (According to Killeen police, no such vests were found at the scene of the crash. 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. Why was Robinson not put under watch? Copyright 2023 Echovita Inc. All rights reserved. Bill to attend technical school in Houston to work on wind turbines or oil rigs off the coast of Louisiana. Failure to comply could incur fines of hundreds of dollars or other, more severe social censure. But as Beyer would soon realize, Finchs past wasnt what she claimedand Beyers own difficult history was up for the taking. Chee had joined the military in part to support the young family he was starting with his high school sweetheart turned fiance. Army investigating after soldier, 26, found dead in latest in string of unexplained deaths at Fort Hood barracks Fort Hood officials have not released the cause of death for Maxwell. In fact, Casteel had been convinced that CIA agents were attacking him since last June. As of October 20, 2022, 70 of 70 Fort Hood Independent Review Committee recommendations have been addressed by the U.S. Army's People First Task Force. (The police opened an investigation on August 19.) A soft October wind carried the first chill of the season. Five were murdered. But the only among the victims may be the institution that them all to kill. The wave of pain went away as suddenly as it had come on but returned again, and again, and again, over the next hour. Eleven of the deaths remain unresolvedsome legally; others for the victims'. 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. His killers were never looked for properly and thus never found. Last year, at least 39 Fort Hood soldiers died or went missing. As many as 28 Fort Hood soldiers died in 2020, including in multiple homicides, suicides and other accidents. During the day, though, it was still hot enough that if you dropped a beer bottle, the contents appeared to dry on contact. That gun safety is a distant concern in a community where the Second Amendment tops the Maslow charts. These figures eclipse American casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq in the same year. he asks, then answers. On most nights, I had nightmares. And how well will that look on your rsum?, Im 21 now, and let me tell you. He died in 1879, leaving a troubled legacy that is only now beginning to be questioned. If he killed himself, don't they want to know why?". 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. His killers were never looked for properly and thus never found. 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.. In 1941, Private Felix Hall was lynched by fellow soldiers, at Fort Benning, Georgia. Not long after Fort Hood opened, soldiers began bringing home souvenirs in the form of war brides. Robinson himself left soon thereafter, he would testify, to spend the night off post with his girlfriend. They checked into a nearby hotel and returned at 8 a.m. the next day. Driving into Killeen last fall, what greeted me was a deer, roadkill, that had been severed in half. 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. All are former soldiers. That September, Wedel-Morales, who was from rural Oklahoma, was due to be honorably discharged from the military. Joshua Diamond, 35, of Plymouth, Massachusetts, and Pfc. Thirteen killed themselves. Matthew Disney, 20, of Aberdeen, Maryland, were pronounced dead on the scene by emergency medical personnel at the North Carolina military. He ultimately murdered her when she was eight months pregnant, then set her on fire before fleeing to Mexico. 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. Last year, at least 39 Fort Hood soldiers died or went missing. And being mission-ready, the perpetual vigilance it requires, ensures a kind of endless possibility of war, which in turn justifies the $740 billion annual defense budget. A sergeant from Guillens division called it mandatory fun days. The additional scrutinythe congressional delegation visit, press toursmeant that soldiers had to work harder. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. Dont they care as to what happened to Elder Fernandes? 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. Bill to attend technical school in Houston to work on wind turbines or oil rigs off the coast of Louisiana. The base was named after John Bell Hood, a Confederate general from a family that enslaved people in Kentucky, who made his name by breaking a Union line at Elthams Landing in Virginia and who, by todays standards, likely suffered from PTSD. Casteel had told Rodriguez he was getting away from the abuse.. 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. Oct 13, 2021 An official Army photo of Spc. He refused to send a selfie or get on a video chat and began using a strange and unfamiliar speech pattern. Alvis Franklin Bentley. Despite 10,000 hours of investigation and 300 interviews, much about Guillens death remained a mystery. Vanessa Guillen and a number of other soldiers at Fort Hood sparked outrage across the country, leading to an independent review of the command climate and culture on the military post. Is it possible Elder killed himself? (He was found a day later.) Is it possible Elder was murdered? (Fort Hood refused all official interview requests for this story, citing ongoing investigations. After he returned to Fort Hood, Rodriguez managed to get Casteel on a video call. (Fort Hood contributed nearly $30 billion to the Texas economy in 2019, according to the Texas comptroller's office.). To revist this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. Remains of soldiers have been turning up around the Texas military base with terrifying frequency. I am astounded nobody is interested, the Fernandes family lawyer Lenny Kesten told me. Specialist Vanessa Guillen's father, Rogelio, wondered if I shouldn't carry a gun. Stump was going 82 mph in a 30-mph zone, the investigation report said, and had hit a tree on a mound. They married in May 2017, and he took her name with hyphenation. Who were the soldiers who had testified to seeing Guillen leave the arms room the day she disappeared? The ancient Greeks wrote epic poems on the subject, the most famous of which is the Iliad. Despite 10,000 hours of investigation and 300 interviews, much about Guillen's death remained a mystery. I've even lost myself." "None of the messages added up, nor were they how he usually speaks to me," Rodriguez told me. Through social media posts, court records, and other primary sources, author Kathleen Hale forensically reconstructs their lives before the crime, and the night they were killed. The numbers are distressing. Garrison Policies and Regulations. 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. 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. ), Wedel-Moraless death was not the first from the base that may have involved bike gangs. fort hood training calendar 2023 Ozempic (semaglutide) is a once-weekly injection that is FDA approved for use by adults with type 2 diabetes to control their blood sugar levels. The police too told Ailina that Fernandes was an adult and that they would not report him as missing.