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. (The Boley case remains unsolved.) 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. A few hours later, Robinson, who had mostly been playing video games, escaped Fort Hood by car. That psychological trauma among veterans vastly exceeds physical wounds. Killeen itself sits on an especially brutal stretch of central Texas, along the Balcones Fault, which separates the high plains of the Hill Country to the west from the grand prairies and limestone plains of the east, and along which runs Interstate 35. Toxic leadership is nothing new. He wondered if it was something he had eaten and carried on with his shift. He refused to send a selfie or get on a video chat and began using a strange and unfamiliar speech pattern. As soon as I get out of the hospital, I will call you. 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. (There was also literal toxicity on base in that some of the mold-infested barracks where soldiers lived were technically condemned, according to Maureen Elliott, a military spouse and a housing advocate.). Later, Robinson would tell investigators that Guillen completed her task and exited the building. Fort Hood is the Army's premier installation to train and deploy heavy forces. The first week I spent in Texas that October, 22-year-old Lucas Hicks-Mack went missing on base. Jef Rouner. Eventually Fernandes rang from the Army hospital. Chris and Moses friends of Gregory Wedel-Morales at the site of his remains, Killeen TX. 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. 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. (He was found a day later.) 5.2 (infant deaths per 1,000 live births) Life Expectancy (at Birth) 76.5 years (2020) Marriage Rate. How had he managed to escapeand where had he gotten his gun? They returned several days later to pour concrete over the remains. 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. A group of soldiers, including Robinson, greeted them. 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. Basic details of the incident kept changing. Last year, at least 39 Fort Hood soldiers died or went missing. 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. 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. At first, Aguilar told investigators, they cut her up using a machete. Those remains, it turned out, belonged to yet another soldier, Private Gregory Wedel-Morales, who had gone missing the previous summer. First it was a five-mile run, then it was a two-mile run. 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. Robinson himself left soon thereafter, he would testify, to spend the night off post with his girlfriend. Maxwell Hockin, 26, was. 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. The family began posting online about Guillen's disappearance and distributing "Missing" fliers. On August 28, Chee was called into a training run. 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. Ive lost brothers and sisters in arms, a marriage, Ive lost family, Ive lost friendships that were supposed to be forever. THE GREAT PLACE. ARMY-WIDE IMPLEMENTATION STATUS. He was assigned to the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division. Frantic, she called around, to no avail. Fort Hood was founded in January 1942 as a training ground for tank destroyers, selected for its varied terrain. He seemed weird, Rodriguez said. Within days of arriving at Fort Hood, Chee's clothes were stolen. 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. His body was mostly intact but for his hyoid, which was never found. According to officials, the deaths include seven off-duty accidents; seven suicides; one combat-related death; four homicides, one of which was on the base; two of natural causes; one that was. Because what the military asks of its men and women is so antisocial, it must co-opt the rhetoric of the family. FORT HOOD, Texas - Fort Hood officials say they do not suspect foul play in the death of 26-year-old SPC Maxwell Hockin. The brutal murders of four Idaho college students shocked millions. Thomas Berg, whose son Private Brandon Rosecranss Jeep was found burning in May, told me not to go out after dark. Maxwell Hockin, was found dead outside his company barracks on Saturday, October 9. 22.4 (births per 1,000 females 15-19 years of age) Infant Mortality Rate. Fernandes's family told me they have never been interviewed. Jennifer Anthony Lovells sister, Temple Tx. 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. Within days of arriving at Fort Hood, Chees clothes were stolen. Women, who make up 17 percent of active-duty military, were doubly bereft, and the case files were awash with stories of the dead. (According to Killeen police, no such vests were found at the scene of the crash. Since the beginning of the year, there have been 12 Fort Hood soldiers who have vanished, died, or, in one case, turned up dead after going missing last year. The stories are gruesome, then heartbreaking, then beyond belief. The military is necessarily an institution of state-sanctioned violence, where we teach our young to kill on our behalf in the name of ideologies such as patriotism or democracy. Hoover, Alabama. She pleaded not guilty. The circumstances are so strange and awful that fully understanding the events can be difficult. You can click this link to create an obituary. 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. 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. 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 deaths were caused by varying reasons -- gunshots, car accidents and illnesses and all the deaths were under probe. Schuettes body was returned to his family wrapped like a mummy. Later that year, Private Dakota Lee Stump left his barracks to report for work less than a mile away but never arrived for formation. 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 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. There, Wedel-Moraless remains had been found, long ago decomposed in the Texas heat. I've lost so much since I've been in. All are former soldiers. 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. III Corps Inspector General. Had anyone helped Robinson clean up Guillens murder in those 40 minutes? "From the age of 18, the only thing I knew how to do was kill people," Ring wrote on the website of his father's veterans' rights organization. On March 5, 2020, Destanie Sawyers five-year-old daughter found her father, Specialist Christopher Sawyer, 29, after he had shot himself dead in the bedroom of their Fort Hood housing. 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. On August 13, Staff Sergeant Bradley Moore died during a land navigation exercise on the base. Spc. Fort Hood announced that Stump had crashed his car while driving under the influence, though a toxicology report proved inconclusive. 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 material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. Courtesy | Margie Taylor Spc.. The additional scrutinythe congressional delegation visit, press toursmeant that soldiers had to work harder. His body was found nearly a month later, two miles from the barracks. That an overwhelming majority of the town's economy comes from Fort Hood makes Killeen a kind of rentier state, in that most of its revenue comes through a foreign entity, which historically has led to the collapse of domestic industries, leading to increased dependence on a single source of income. He died in 1879, leaving a troubled legacy that is only now beginning to be questioned. Texan sentenced to 20 years following drug-related death of Fort Hood soldier. Fernandes had just been stationed at Fort Hood in January. Stump was going 82 mph in a 30-mph zone, the investigation report said, and had hit a tree on a mound. 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. For nothing.. 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. After the public remonstrations began, Fort Hood launched something it called Operation Phantom Action, a weeklong retreat of sorts that was meant to rebuild trust between soldiers and the leadership. The numbers are distressing. There had been a few people, then it was a group run of 11. By Marlene Lenthang October 13, 2021, 9:15 AM 2:25 On Location: February 24, 2023 Catch up on the developing stories making headlines. Dozens of people were killed, died by suicide, or went missing from the Texas military base last year alone. 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 story appears in the July/August 2021 issue of Vanity Fair.I enthusiastically recommend this article. 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. I have sponsored a a Change.org listing advocating renaming the post after Oveta . Fort Hood might not even stand out were it not for a particularly bad year among many. Call (254) 287-9993 or (254) 287-0106 to request a PAO escort. The search party arrived at Fort Hood at 3 a.m. Guillen's staff sergeant told the group to come back in the morning. Anthony Nevelle Peak Jr. Hogan, 19, and Peak Jr., 21, were both killed in a. The U.S. Army on Tuesday announced the removal . Fort Hood informed Rodriguez that he had asked for this. 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 rained that night, and the drive, which should have taken three hours, was slow going. So much of reporting is opening yourself up to chance, and there I was, compulsively locking and relocking the rental car door. "And how well will that look on your resume? And yet: The data is not really out of the ordinary for U.S. military bases. Fort Hood hurriedly put up a $25,000 reward for Wedel-Morales as well. Chee had joined the military in part to support the young family he was starting with his high school sweetheart turned fiance. The sense of dehumanizing alienation soldiers complained about was not a symptom of a malfunctioning system, it was its original design. He refused to send a selfie or get on a video chat and began using a strange and unfamiliar speech pattern. . There was a deep cut above his left eye, and cuts all over his legs. 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. After a chase along Rancier Avenue, the same street near which Lovell was found dead, Robinson shot himself and died. Before Guillen, there had been Private LaVena Lynn Johnson, who was found dead in a tent in 2005 in Iraq. Ad Choices. But with each encounter, it was becoming clear that the military had not failed its soldiers at all. If he killed himself, don't they want to know why?". 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. They married in May 2017, and he took her name with hyphenation. All this has been true since the founding of the American military, but a sense of disorientation has increased in recent years, as wars that were never good to begin with began to lose moral shine. = Link to a nongovernmental site. All rights reserved. Traveling in the time of plague, trying to build rapport with people from six feet away, was enervating. What is behind the violence and tragedy at Fort Hood? "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. 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. Thirteen killed themselves. (Fort Hood does not count Moore in its official casualty list, as he was a member of the National Guard.). First came the British and Germans. At the Dollhouse, he got to know Penny Morales, a dancer and mother of two. A few hours later, Robinson, who had mostly been playing video games, escaped Fort Hood by car. On most nights, I had nightmares. The search party arrived at Fort Hood at 3 a.m. Guillens staff sergeant told the group to come back in the morning. That is the opposite of what hes been consistently saying.. 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. 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. October 13, 2021 04:48 PM. 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. The shakeup comes after after a series of suspicious deaths and disappearances that have plagued Fort Hood. I will tell you everything. Fernandes was dropped off at his friends house the next day, August 17, never to be seen again. 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. Not long after Fort Hood opened, soldiers began bringing home souvenirs in the form of war brides. "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.' In January 2017, Fox News cited reports to say the Army and local police were probing deaths of 11 Fort Hood soldiers who died on and off the base in the months before under mysterious circumstances, as per reports. During the day, though, it was still hot enough that if you dropped a beer bottle, the contents appeared to dry on contact. 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.