He died in 1879, leaving a troubled legacy that is only now beginning to be questioned. Casteel had told Rodriguez he was getting away from the abuse.. The sense of dehumanizing alienation soldiers complained about was not a symptom of a malfunctioning system, it was its original design. The death was ruled a suicide despite the fact that the blanket stuffed around the window to hold the pipe in place had been doused in Schuettes own blood, and Schuette was found with nine stab wounds across his body, including his forearm and his left hand. Fort Hood officials confirmed Monday that Martinez and Mosley were assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division. Fernandes transferred to another unit where he was called a snitch and worse. 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. Is it possible Elder killed himself ? (Fort Hood contributed nearly $30 billion to the Texas economy in 2019, according to the Texas comptroller's office.). He had been happy enough there that in February he reenlisted for an additional four years. Alvis Franklin Bentley. (He was found a day later.) These deaths confirm to many the issues reported at the post . I've even lost myself." Memorial that now stands at the site Vanessa Guillen's remains were found in Killen, Texas. Not long after Fort Hood opened, soldiers began bringing home souvenirs in the form of war brides. On May 18, Brandon Rosecranss burning Jeep was discovered in a hilly suburb east of Fort Hood. He joined the U.S. Army in March of 2017 as a combat engineer and had been assigned to . Justice for Vanessa Guillen. From this inauspicious start, Killeen grew into a proper military town and is now home to six strip clubs, 18 pawn shops, 35 dollar stores, and 38 tattoo parlors. And on June 19, skeletal remains were found in a field behind a cul-de-sac of a residential neighborhood in Killeen. As soon as I get out of the hospital, I will call you. On Wednesday, April 22, 2020, Guillen reported for duty at Fort Hood. March 2, 2023 (86 years old) Why had it taken forensics 72 days to conduct a search of the arms room? In fact, Casteel had been convinced that CIA agents were attacking him since last June. 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 Idaho Murders, Part 1: How 4 College Kids Lived and Loved. Eleven of the deaths remain unresolvedsome legally; others for the victims' families. Fernandes transferred to another unit where he was called a snitch and worse. Before Fort Hood was built, the land was used for grazing by some 3,000 farmers and ranchers, according to Gerald D. Skidmore, a Killeen historian. Why had it taken forensics 72 days to conduct a search of the arms room? ), On July 3, a fortnight after Wedel-Moraless body was found, Specialist Miguel Yazzie, 33, died at Fort Hood after his repeated requests to see a doctor were denied, according to Carma Johnson, whose brother died at Fort Hood. Ad Choices. 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. The wave of pain went away as suddenly as it had come on but returned again, and again, and again, over the next hour. 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 few days later, they spoke again, for the last time. Specialist Vanessa Guillen's father, Rogelio, wondered if I shouldn't carry a gun. Mayra wept during the journey, already fearing the worst. (Penny says they met online.) III Corps Policies and Regulations . First came the British and Germans. The wave of pain went away as suddenly as it had come on but returned again, and again, and again, over the next hour. First it was a five-mile run, then it was a two-mile run. FORT HOOD, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - U.S. Army officials at Fort Hood have identified the soldier who was found dead Saturday, Oct. 13 behind his company barracks. And so his disappearance was no surprise, his father told me. Had one of them stood in for Guillen during roll call? Is it possible Elder killed himself? 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. 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. Fort Hood was founded in January 1942 as a training ground for tank destroyers, selected for its varied terrain. "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. Spc. Texan sentenced to 20 years following drug-related death of Fort Hood soldier. The U.S. Army announced Saturday that a soldier was found dead in the . 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 then driven the body to the Leon River and had come back to pick Aguilar up from the gas station where she worked on Veterans Memorial Boulevard, five miles east of Fort Hood. If she wanted to pursue things further, they advised, she would have to file a missing persons report with the local police. The corpse had been dead for a while, though it was impossible to determine exactly how long. 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. Beyond the base, gas station attendants and restaurant servers, many of whom were veterans or had ties to the military, all seemed resigned to certain fates. 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. Also that year, Marine Lance Corporal Maria Lauterbach was raped by her superior, which she reported. Boots and hat at Vanessa Guillens memorial, Killeen TX, Jeffrey Epsteins Decades-Long Relationship. Is it possible Elder was murdered? Eleven of the deaths remain unresolvedsome legally; others for the victims'. There, Wedel-Moraless remains had been found, long ago decomposed in the Texas heat. How had he managed to escapeand where had he gotten his gun? From the age of 18, the only thing I knew how to do was kill people, Ring wrote on the website of his fathers veterans rights organization. Lenz's mother, Margie Taylor, said her son loved children and looked forward to having a family of his own one day. (On July 14,2020, a federal grand injury indicted Aguilar on one count of conspiracy and two counts of tampering with evidence. Fort Hood concluded Chee had died in training. He had messaged his sister beforehand to tell her something felt off. Hoover, Alabama. (On July 14, 2020, a federal grand injury indicted Aguilar on one count of conspiracy and two counts of tampering with evidence. Why was Robinson not put under watch? IMCOM is not responsible for the content of links outside home.army.mil. Fort Hood also stated that it had completed an exhaustive search for Fernandes, and that it had interviewed all relevant parties, including the family. Fort Hood has been the center of a bizarre and horrific set of tragedies in 2020. Eventually Fernandes rang from the Army hospital. A few hours later, Robinson, who had mostly been playing video games, escaped Fort Hood by car. In other battles, having lost the use of his arm and later a leg, Hood had to be strapped to a horse for combat. 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. Casteel had told Rodriguez "he was getting away from the abuse.". (He was found a day later.) The 2020 numbers add to ongoing mysteries, including a 2016 case where a corpse's hyoid, the U-shaped neck bone typically examined to determine whether strangulation has occurred, was missing. The stories are gruesome, then heartbreaking, then beyond belief. There were no Black residents in town until the early 1950s. The additional scrutinythe congressional delegation visit, press toursmeant that soldiers had to work harder. "Is it possible Elder was murdered? She is now for the movement.. 6 min read. ), On July 3, a fortnight after Wedel-Morales's body was found, Specialist Miguel Yazzie, 33, died at Fort Hood after his repeated requests to see a doctor were denied, according to Carma Johnson, whose brother died at Fort Hood. Rosecrans, shot four times, was found three miles from his vehicle. The next day, Wedel-Morales failed to show up for duty, and the day after that, he was classified as absent without leave, making him one of the thousand or so soldiers who go AWOL in any given year. "That is the opposite of what he's been consistently saying.". Crawford-Bowers Funeral Home 1615 South Fort Hood Road, Killeen (254) 634-2638 . It was unclear, in 2020, what American soldiers were fighting for. A soft October wind carried the first chill of the season. Thirteen killed themselves. 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. Before Guillen, there had been Private LaVena Lynn Johnson, who was found dead in a tent in 2005 in Iraq. 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. He died the evening of September 2. Within days of arriving at Fort Hood, Chee's clothes were stolen. (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. The U.S. Army on Tuesday announced the removal . 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. He wondered if it was something he had eaten and carried on with his shift. The circumstances are so strange and awful that fully understanding the events can be difficult. As distressing as the remains in shallow graves or the missing hyoid bone is the fatalism from soldiers and locals alike. Guillens youngest sister, Lupe, made me promise to stay at the Marriott, a hotel she considered safer than the rest. 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 . At first, Aguilar told investigators, they cut her up using a machete. The plan, Wedel-Morales told anyone who would listen, was to use the G.I. 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. His body was found nearly a month later, two miles from the barracks. During the run, Chee, who had no preexisting health conditions, collapsed. On May 19, military investigators went through Robinsons 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. In a press statement, Fort Hood officials said Hockin, 26, was initially found unresponsive outside of the barracks and was subsequently pronounced dead. A group of soldiers, including Robinson, greeted them. New Market, Alabama. 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. 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. He had then driven the body to the Leon River and had come back to pick Aguilar up from the gas station where she worked on Veterans Memorial Boulevard, five miles east of Fort Hood. 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. (Fort Hood refused all official interview requests for this story, citing ongoing investigations. Vanessa Guilln, who was missing for about two months before her remains were found. There she encountered Specialist Aaron Robinson, also 20 years old but a rank above. 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. After he returned to Fort Hood, Rodriguez managed to get Casteel on a video call. That September, Wedel-Morales, who was from rural Oklahoma, was due to be honorably discharged from the military. The small Texas frontier town was also a "hotbed of Klan activity," according to Texas historian Gene Preuss of the University of Houston, so much so that when trains stopped in Killeen, Black passengersrelegated to "colored cars"knew to pull down their window shades to avoid a pelting with rocks by locals. Far from itthe military was operating as it had been intended. A few days later, so did 21-year-old Specialist Trey Ring. 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 first week I spent in Texas that October, 22-year-old Lucas Hicks-Mack went missing on base. None of the grunts I spoke to was surprised by the number of casualties. 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. Sewell is the latest soldier to disappear from the base after a series of soldiers disappeared in the past few years. 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. 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. Fort Hood hurriedly put up a $25,000 reward for Wedel-Morales as well. The U.S. Army identified a soldier found dead behind his company barracks at Fort Hood last week as 26-year-old Spc.
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