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The rolling, semi-arid terrain is ideal for multifaceted training and testing of military units and troops. 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. 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. They returned several days later to pour concrete over the remains. Morta's death comes amid intense scrutiny of Fort Hood in recent weeks. After 8 p.m., Guillen's sister Mayra called the base. 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. 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. Deaths of two female soldiers in Texas under investigation January 5, 2021 / 11:39 AM / CBS News Investigations are underway across Texas after two female soldiers were found dead on New. Jennifer Anthony Lovells sister, Temple Tx. 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. 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. Crawford-Bowers Funeral Home 1615 South Fort Hood Road, Killeen (254) 634-2638 . May Jeong has written an in-depth analysis of the rash of unexplained deaths at Fort Hood. 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. The day after Guillen disappeared, Private Gavin Chambers, 21, died on base. Rodriguez sensed something was off. The day after Guillen disappeared, Private Gavin Chambers, 21, died on base. Back in Houston, Gloria recalled a conversation with her daughter not long before, when Guillen had been home for the weekend. Thirteen killed themselves. 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. They checked into a nearby hotel and returned at 8 a.m. the next day. The soldiers said that Guillen's belongings had been found in the arms room, but otherwise she had left no trace. "Is it possible Elder was murdered? The wave of pain went away as suddenly as it had come on but returned again, and again, and again, over the next hour. On August 11, a higher-up called Fernandes's mother, Ailina, to tell her that her son had not shown up for work for two days. Garrison Policies and Regulations. The first week I spent in Texas that October, 22-year-old Lucas Hicks-Mack went missing on base. The stories are gruesome, then heartbreaking, then beyond belief. Their minds both turned to Vanessa, whose hourly texts to family members had gone silent. 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. Schuette's body was returned to his family "wrapped like a mummy." On August 13, Staff Sergeant Bradley Moore died during a land navigation exercise on the base. (Penny says they met online.) Despite 10,000 hours of investigation and 300 interviews, much about Guillen's death remained a mystery. Despite 10,000 hours of investigation and 300 interviews, much about Guillens death remained a mystery. Fort Hood concluded Chee had died in training. It was ruled a suicide until her father noticed her broken nose, black eye, loose teeth, and burns on her genitals. . Fort Hood is now the largest active-duty armored post comprised of nearly 400,000 soldiers, civilian employees, families, and retirees in the Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood metro area. 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. She has become that complicated, indelible thing: a hero. "What on earth are you training for?" He died in 1879, leaving a troubled legacy that is only now beginning to be questioned. At first blush, such violence at a base that calls itself the Great Place may seem extraordinary, inexplicable even. Barely a week later, Private Corlton Chee, 25, died during training. Fort Hood Weather. Spc. 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. On August 17, Sergeant Elder Fernandes, 23, disappeared. That most soldiers enlist when they are still teenagers, their yet-unformed minds taught to kill. He had also gotten married without telling his family, been evicted from his apartment, and stopped showing up to work. 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. 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. Fifty six . The police too told Ailina that Fernandes was an adult and that they would not report him as missing. Thirteen people were determined to have committed suicide. His body was found nearly a month later, two miles from the barracks. A U.S. Army soldier, Spc. Also that year, Marine Lance Corporal Maria Lauterbach was raped by her superior, which she reported. Fernandes was dropped off at his friend's house the next day, August 17, never to be seen again. At 9:30 p.m., Mayra, Cruz, Guillen's other sister Yovana, and Yovana's boyfriend set out for Fort Hood. 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. 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. Later, Robinson would tell investigators that Guillen completed her task and exited the building. On Wednesday, April 22, 2020, Guillen reported for duty at Fort Hood. 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. One of the first times she stepped onto the base, a rosary she had been carrying in the palm of her hand tore apart, its beads scattering over the concrete ground. The base saw 26 . On most nights, I had nightmares. = Link to a CAC-required sites . I've lost so much since I've been in. His body was found nearly a month later, two miles from the barracks. Photo: US Army. The Army said Friday, April 30, 2021, 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.. On most nights, I had nightmares. 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. As soon as I get out of the hospital, I will call you. Here are some of the tragic deaths that have plagued the base in recent months: Pvt. 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. Gloria had noticed her losing weight and pressed her for why. Thomas Berg, whose son Private Brandon Rosecrans's Jeep was found burning in May, told me not to go out after dark. Such moral injury deteriorates social trust, which is then "replaced by the settled expectancy of harm, exploitation, and humiliation from others," resulting in despair and violence to self and to others. That morning, Guillen had left her third-floor barracks and headed downstairs to her work station at the motor pool, a vast garage for military vehicles. Later the same day, at 8:30 p.m., Aaron Robinsons 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. On April 30, 2021, Fort Hood found that Guillen had indeed been sexually harassed by a soldier, but not Robinson.). Women, who make up 17 percent of active-duty military, were doubly bereft, and the case files were awash with stories of the dead. Find an obituary, get service details, leave condolence messages or send flowers or gifts in memory of a loved one. How had he managed to escapeand where had he gotten his gun? 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. Guillens superior confirmed she was missing. "She doesn't belong to the Army anymore," AnaLuisa Tapia, a local organizer, told me. Fernandes transferred to another unit where he was called a snitch and worse. You can click this link to create an obituary. 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. It was also an ancient Comanche Native American burial ground, discovered when construction workers unearthed more than 2,200 grave sites in 1998. In a press statement, Fort Hood officials said Hockin, 26, was initially found unresponsive outside of the barracks and was subsequently pronounced dead. PUBLISHED 10:53 AM CT Mar. Inside the rash of explained deaths at Fort Hood. At the Dollhouse, he got to know Penny Morales, a dancer and mother of two. Hood was an unsuccessful battle commander; 400 men of his Texas Brigade died in a single fight, some would argue through incautious direction. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. Maj. Gen. Scott Efflandt. 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. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. These deaths confirm to many the issues reported at the post . 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. It rained that night, and the drive, which should have taken three hours, was slow going. 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. Gloria had noticed her losing weight and pressed her for why. If she wanted to pursue things further, they advised, she would have to file a missing persons report with the local police. At least 39 Fort Hood troops died or went missing last year. Eleven of the deaths remain unresolvedsome legally; others for the victims' families. (He was found a day later.) Fort Hood officials confirmed Monday that Martinez and Mosley were assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division. Fort Worth (817) 293-8477 Laurel Land Funeral Home and Cemetery 7100 Crowley Road, Fort Worth . 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. Maxwell Hockin, the Central . (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. A young soldier found dead at Fort Hood has been identified, but his cause of death remains hidden. There, Wedel-Morales's remains had been found, long ago decomposed in the Texas heat. 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. And so his disappearance was no surprise, his father told me. His killers were never looked for properly and thus never found. All rights reserved. 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. 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. They returned several days later to pour concrete over the remains. 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. Fort Hood has come under serious fire in recent years, as the incident follows the heartbreaking death of Vanessa Guilln. 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. It was unclear, in 2020, what American soldiers were fighting for. If she wanted to pursue things further, they advised, she would have to file a missing persons report with the local police. That September, Wedel-Morales, who was from rural Oklahoma, was due to be honorably discharged from the military. If not, what explained the false accounting? 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. After 8 p.m., Guillens sister Mayra called the base. First came the British and Germans. There were no Black residents in town until the early 1950s. "He seemed weird," Rodriguez said. That gun safety is a distant concern in a community where the Second Amendment tops the Maslow charts. Club Fuego where Gregory Wedel-Morales was last seen, Killeen Tx. 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. The search party arrived at Fort Hood at 3 a.m. Guillens staff sergeant told the group to come back in the morning. 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. 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. The sense of dehumanizing alienation soldiers complained about was not a symptom of a malfunctioning system, it was its original design. ), Wedel-Moraless death was not the first from the base that may have involved bike gangs. Specialist Justen Ogdens 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. Fort Hood hurriedly put up a $25,000 reward for Wedel-Morales as well. He seemed weird, Rodriguez said. It was a "heartrending, searing experience," central Texas historian Gra'Delle Duncan said, "leaving lifetime marks on all, and actually killing some" from the psychic devastation that followed. Last year, at least 39 Fort Hood soldiers vanished or died, including 13. By Marlene Lenthang October 13, 2021, 9:15 AM 2:25 On Location: February 24, 2023 Catch up on the developing stories making headlines. There she encountered Specialist Aaron Robinson, also 20 years old but a rank above. 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. 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. 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. Oct 13, 2021 An official Army photo of Spc. The ancient Greeks wrote epic poems on the subject, the most famous of which is the Iliad. Had one of them stood in for Guillen during roll call? The exact cause of Hockin's death remains unclear . 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. ARMY-WIDE IMPLEMENTATION STATUS. 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 carsknew to pull down their window shades to avoid a pelting with rocks by locals. 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. 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. Five were murdered. 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 discovery in 2020 of the dismembered and burned remains of Vanessa Guillen, a Fort Hood soldier who disappeared on April 22, 2020, sparked outrage from central Texas to . During the day, though, it was still hot enough that if you dropped a beer bottle, the contents appeared to dry on contact. Fort Hood was founded in January 1942 as a training ground for tank destroyers, selected for its varied terrain. A group of soldiers, including Robinson, greeted them. SHARE. Is it possible Elder killed himself ? 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. 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. Vanity Fair may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. A sergeant from Guillen's division called it "mandatory fun days." More than 90 lawmakers earlier this month called for an independent review of how the Army handled the disappearance of Spc. Had anyone helped Robinson clean up Guillen's murder in those 40 minutes? He refused to send a selfie or get on a video chat and began using a strange and unfamiliar speech pattern. 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. The first week I spent in Texas that October, 22-year-old Lucas Hicks-Mack went missing on base. Dozens of people were killed, died by suicide, or went missing from the Texas military base last year alone. Stump was going 82 mph in a 30-mph zone, the investigation report said, and had hit a tree on a mound. Stump was going 82 mph in a 30-mph zone, the investigation report said, and had hit a tree on a mound. The U.S. Army announced Saturday that a soldier was found dead in the . He also wanted an education, and "joining the Army he knew he could take care of all of that," his sister Carma Johnson says. ", "I'm 21 now, and let me tell you. Guillen's superior confirmed she was missing. Sgt. 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. Fort Hood announced that Stump had crashed his car while driving under the influence, though a toxicology report proved inconclusive. Why had it taken forensics 72 days to conduct a search of the arms room? Fernandes's family told me they have never been interviewed.