But the problem is you could always have punished for retaliation.. Victoria a friend of Gregory Wedel-Morales at the site of his remains, Killeen TX. Boots and hat at Vanessa Guillens memorial, Killeen TX, Jeffrey Epsteins Decades-Long Relationship. Frantic, she called around, to no avail. In fact, Casteel had been convinced that CIA agents were attacking him since last June. Vanessa Guillen enlisted shortly after she graduated high school and had expressed interest in joining the military when she was as young as 10, said her mother, Gloria Guillen, at a press conference in June. Our soldiers and their families deserve the truth, she said. This negates civic participation, as the state no longer needs to collect taxes and thus stops serving the people, who in turn have no need to pressure the government for anythingthe very dynamic that continues to play out in oil-rich Gulf states. The letter also names Pvt Mejhor Morta and Sgt Elder Fernandes, whose deaths are under investigation, and the homicide investigations of Pvt Brandon Scott Rosecrans, Spc Freddy Delacruz Jr and Spc Shelby Tyler Jones. (The person who called in with the tip declined to collect the reward. Thanks for donating today. Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts and Jackie Speier of California, both Democrats, sent a letter to the army secretary, Ryan McCarthy, requesting documents and information on the deaths. 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. Fort Hood was founded in January 1942 as a training ground for tank destroyers, selected for its varied terrain. Two Coast Guard Yards in the two most dangerous military towns are located in Baltimore, which saw a murder rate ten times the national average in 2017. Fort Hood is a sprawling base of nearly 215,000 acres, or 340sq miles, founded in 1942 in mid-Texas, between Austin and Dallas. Before she went missing, Guilln had told her family she had been sexually harassed by a supervisor. There was no immediate indication that foul play was involved. 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. As we speak, they are in prayer at the house, she said. Site Gregory Wedel-Morales' remains were found in Killeen, Texas. Namely, the military. So much of reporting is opening yourself up to chance, and there I was, compulsively locking and relocking the rental car door. Vannessa Guilln at Fort Hood led to a reckoning within the Army about sexual assault and harassment. Fort Hood, which is situated in Killeen, Texas, is one of the largest military bases in the country, housing 36,500 soldiers and another 30,000 family members. . A spokesman for the Army, Matthew Leonard, confirmed that no other base has ever. Khawam plans to present womens testimony to Congress to encourage legislation while the family visits Washington D.C. this week. Vanessa Guillen and her family were failed.I thank all my colleagues in Congress who have reached out about this case and who are ready to help.Together, we must ensure the Guillen family gets #JusticeForVanessa and that this never happens again.#IAmVanessaGuillen pic.twitter.com/7tPsFCKtdR. The Fort Hood army base near Killeen, Texas. Inquiry into sexual assault, disappearances, deaths and leadership response at Fort Hood in Texas. And on June 19, skeletal remains were found in a field behind a cul-de-sac of a residential neighborhood in Killeen. Later, Robinson would tell investigators that Guillen completed her task and exited the building. Herdeath also inspired legal reforms to help and protect victims of sexual assault in the military. [5] Robinsons girlfriend Cecily Aguilar, a civilian, was arrested and later charged with conspiracy to tamper with evidence. All rights reserved. The coming months brought the suicides of Staff Sergeant Richard Harrington, 45, and then Specialist James Green, 23. 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. It did make me wary of going out at night, for example, Jeong said. Vanessa Guillen, addresses the crowd outside the gates of Fort Hood military base in Killeen, Texas on June 12, 2020. Miller was recently promoted to the position of drill sergeant assigned to the U.S. Army Medical Center of Excellence (MedCoE) at JBSA-Fort Sam Houston, military officials said. Her story, what happened to her, really resonates for me because, shes a Mexican American woman that lost her life, and that could have easily been me with the things that I went through, the sexual harassment, the attempts of assault, and dealing with the chain of command where you try to report things.. I believe in Vanessa, and know how it feels to not be believed. The F-35B, operated by the Marine Corps, can take off in a short. A few days later, they spoke again, for the last time. 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. Club Fuego where Gregory Wedel-Morales was last seen, Killeen Tx. Fort Hood has had over 50 deaths in the last 5 years." Three years after the murder of Fort Hood Army Spc. Khawam, is also collecting testimony from women in the military who wish to share their stories of sexual assault and harassment. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. T. Cullen Davis. The incident took place in Killeen, Texas, where Fort Hood is located. About one in three service members report sexual assault, according to the defense departments sexual assault prevention and response office, which was established in 2005. Jessica Mitchell and 19-year-old Pfc. 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. Aguilar faces 20 years in federal prison and a maximum $250,000 fine, and a hearing is expected to take place early next week. Its devastating to know that I am not alone. But the only among the victims may be the institution that them all to kill. A Fort Bragg soldier, found with white supremacist literature and paraphernalia, pleaded guilty this week to having an unregistered "ghost gun," federal prosecutors say. 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. She enlisted for her country, to defend us, and now that she needs us we need to support her and look for her and catch that miserable personwho knows who he is of all of them.. Graham enlisted Army in July 2019 and in her short career received the National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, and the Army Service Ribbon, military officials said. Our thoughts and prayers are with them during this difficult time. The police too told Ailina that Fernandes was an adult and that they would not report him as missing. Chee had joined the military in part to support the young family he was starting with his high school sweetheart turned fiance. To revist this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. It is also one of a number of US military bases named for leaders or generals of the Confederacy, which fought and lost the civil war between 1861 and 1865 in an attempt to maintain slavery. If you found the reporting above valuable, please consider making a donation to support it here. 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. The 20-year-old soldier said she was being sexually harassed by superiors before her dismembered body was found in Texas. By Nicole Lopez. Later Fort Hood confirmed it was for violating quarantine. That most soldiers enlist when they are still teenagers, their yet-unformed minds taught to kill. And what ended up happening is that this amazing and beautiful family gave this beautiful girl to this country, and they chewed her up and spit her out like she was garbage., Military sexual assaults jump by 37%, anonymous survey shows, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, 2023 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. Guillns family say they learned what allegedly happened to Vanessa as the public did. Asia M. Graham, according to military officials. What has long been under scrutiny is the reporting process for service members who experience sexual assault and harassment. Last years murder of Pfc. She has become that complicated, indelible thing: a hero. He had been happy enough there that in February he reenlisted for an additional four years. LM Otero/AP. Authorities say Army Specialist Aaron Robinson, 20, bludgeoned Guillen to death with a hammer inside an armory room on Fort Hood. She was an exceptional teammate that will truly be missed., Fort Hood shared an update Thursday, saying the Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division confirmed that at this point in the investigation into the death of Pvt. Bill to attend technical school in Houston to work on wind turbines or oil rigs off the coast of Louisiana. Without any sense of purpose, the suffering at Fort Hood had started to lose its meaning. I will tell you everything. Fernandes was dropped off at his friends house the next day, August 17, never to be seen again. She is now for the movement.. 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. Before Guillen, there had been Private LaVena Lynn Johnson, who was found dead in a tent in 2005 in Iraq. Far from itthe military was operating as it had been intended. Vanessa Guillen in Fort Worth, Texas in July 2020. Her family quickly organized rallies outside the base and launched a #FindVanessaGuilln hashtagsocial mediacampaign. 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. Ana Basaldua Ruiz died Monday at the base, Fort Hood said in a news release. 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. McCaskill, a former sex crimes prosecutor, found herself labeled as the roadblock to the most significant piece of congressional legislation challenging rape culture in the military. Heather OsbourneAustin American-Statesman via AP, Inside the Utah National Guard DC Deployment. (According to Killeen police, no such vests were found at the scene of the crash. 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. #TXwx . Thirteen killed themselves. Mayra Guillen, Vanessas sister, told KPRC that before her disappearance she had been talking about plans for her life. Fernandess family told me they have never been interviewed. She was taken to University Hospital San Antonio, where she was pronounced dead around 3 a.m., police said. Mayra wept during the journey, already fearing the worst. According to the letter, during an August visit to Texas McCarthy stated that Fort Hood had the highest, the most cases for sexual assault and harassment and murders for our entire formation of the US army. Rodriguez sensed something was off. (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.). The base said the chain of command is in contact with Basaldua Ruizs family and providing support and resources to her family and those who worked with her. He died the evening of September 2. The 28th death at Fort Hood this year occurred last week. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. There were no Black residents in town until the early 1950s. The search party arrived at Fort Hood at 3 a.m. Guillens staff sergeant told the group to come back in the morning. Published: Apr. The members of Congress cited the deaths of Spc Vanessa Guilln, who according to federal officials was bludgeoned to death at the Texas base in April by a fellow soldier, and Pvt Gregory Morales, whose remains were found in June during the search for Guilln. Several other investigations into conduct at Food Hood are also under way, including one examining the allegations that Guilln was sexually harassed, and another on the support given to those who report sexual harassment and sexual assault. Robinson fled Fort Hood on June 30, and the complaint says he killed himself that evening after being confronted by police. I want my daughter back alive. After 8 p.m., Guillens sister Mayra called the base. Officials did not reveal how she died but said an investigation is underway into the circumstances. "I hope it's going to be . DeSantis Went to DC to Win Support for a Possible Presidential Bid. At Fort Hood, its a combination of the toxic leadership, the culture there that was able to exist,she said. He also wanted an education, and joining the Army he knew he could take care of all of that, his sister Carma Johnson says. Specialist Guillen's family has raised. If you or someone you know may be contemplating suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or text HOME to 741741 to reach the Crisis Text Line. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our, Digital "Army CID will continue to conduct a thorough investigation and gather all evidence and facts to ensure they discover exactly what transpired. In 2018, a soldier was allegedly shot and killed in her front yard by her husband at Fort Campbell, in Kentucky, which also has one of the highest rates of suicide in the Army. ABC News' Matthew Fuhrman contributed to this report. 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. Memorial that now stands at the site Vanessa Guillen's remains were found in Killen, Texas. Ad Choices. Guillen was last seen on April 22 in the parking lot of her Regimental Engineer Squadron Headquarters, 3rd Cavalry Regiment, at the Fort Hood military base wearing a black shirt and purple fitness pants, according to a public statement by Fort Hood. Almost 90 lawmakers have signed a letter spearheaded by the Texas representative Sylvia Garcia calling for the defense departments inspector general to investigate Guillns disappearance at Fort Hood. Aguilar appeared in court earlier this month but did not make any statement other than to acknowledge the charges against her. The disappearance and killing of soldier Vanessa Guilln has gripped Texas, and reignited widespread outrage over sexual violence in the US military and the failures of recent reforms to address. Robinson gave Guillen the serial number for a .50 caliber machine gun that needed servicing. I hide my feelings partly because I believe that nobody will believe me, she wrote on Facebook. Aguilars cell phone location data was also analyzed and revealed she and Robinson were together near Leon River on April 23 and April 26, the complaint states. From here, wars are launched. Officials are also offering a $25,000 reward for information on Moraless case. Mitchell, a drill sergeant assigned to the U.S. Army Medical Center for Excellence at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, was shot to death around 2:30 a.m. on New Year's Day while driving on Interstate 10 in San Antonio, according to the San Antonio Police Department. November 2009: Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan carried out the largest mass murder at a military installation in American history, opening fire on dozens of unarmed soldiers at a medical deployment. He told his sister there were three white soldiers who did not like him. On August 28, Chee was called into a training run. Fort Hood has the highest cases of soldier murders and sexual assaults among all Army installments, officials said Thursday, as they planned to investigate the military base. Eleven of the deaths remain unresolvedsome legally; others for the victims families. A lawyer for the Guilln family told the Houston Chronicle that they provided Robinsons name to authorities. Vanessa Guillen is painted on 14th Street NW in Washington July 13. His killers were never looked for properly and thus never found. Those remains, it turned out, belonged to yet another soldier, Private Gregory Wedel-Morales, who had gone missing the previous summer. 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. Guillen is from Houston, a three-hour drive south east of Fort Hood, where she relocated after first being stationed in Virginia, according to Houston KPRC 2. Mitchell was on holiday leave at the time of her death, LeMaster said. 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. The Guilln family plans to lead a peaceful protest in Washington DC, on 30 July, when they will present their proposed bill to lawmakers. Their minds both turned to Vanessa, whose hourly texts to family members had gone silent. the army secretary, Ryan McCarthy, announced last week. 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 very next day, a Fort Hood investigation concluded that Fernandess charges of sexual assault were unsubstantiated. 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. April 26, 2023 4:40 PM. 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. I lived in Afghanistan for four-and-a-half years. 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. 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. Last year, at least 39 Fort Hood soldiers died or went missing. (Among 1.29 million members of the U.S. military, 65,000 are immigrants, according to The Washington Post.) We lost a skilled human resource specialist who wanted nothing more than to serve her country and her battle buddies.". Ive lost brothers and sisters in arms, a marriage, Ive lost family, Ive lost friendships that were supposed to be forever. 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. 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. Specialist Vanessa Guillens father, Rogelio, wondered if I shouldnt carry a gun. 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. Agamemnon demonstrates disrespect, vanity, and other lapses in judgment, the result of which is what clinical psychiatrist Jonathan Shay describes as moral injurya (i) betrayal of whats right, (ii) by someone who holds legitimate authority, (iii) in a high stakes situation. 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. At first, Aguilar told investigators, they cut her up using a machete. 2023 Cond Nast. Guillens youngest sister, Lupe, made me promise to stay at the Marriott, a hotel she considered safer than the rest. One of the largest military bases in the world, Fort Hood has been criticized for failing to protect soldiers in the past. On November 5, 2009, a mass shooting took place at Fort Hood, near Killeen, Texas. Two months later, partial human remains were found along the Leon River in Belton and were identified as those of Guilln. Within days of arriving at Fort Hood, Chees clothes were stolen. 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. A mural of slain Army Spc. The departments estimated number of sexual assaults rose sharply between 2016 and 2018, an increase driven mostly by women aged 17 to 24, like Guilln. Isaac Aguigui, Sgt. 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. Traveling in the time of plague, trying to build rapport with people from six feet away, was enervating. Combat engineer Pvt. 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. [Vanessa] was supposed to be safe while working and protecting the country we live in, Lupe Guillen told reporters at a June 23 press conference. Last year's murder of Pfc. Several investigations sparked by Guilln's death led to the removal of 14 base leaders in December 2020. Fernandes, who had reported sexual abuse prior to his. Speier leads the armed services subcommittee on military personnel. That an overwhelming majority of the towns 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. Amid national pressure to rename such bases, a recent Military Times poll found near-50% support for such moves among service personnel. They are part of Killeens population of 151,000, many transient and very young, two thirds of whom have military ties. Protesters gather at a march and vigil for Vanessa Guillen on 12 July in Austin, Texas. Curiously, a few hours after the officers picked up Casteel, he went silent online. A few days later, so did 21-year-old Specialist Trey Ring. Christopher Salmon, and Pfc. Gloria had noticed her losing weight and pressed her for why. That psychological trauma among veterans vastly exceeds physical wounds. By then Wedel-Morales had grown distant from his family in Oklahoma, who had not been told of the marriage. She told family and friends that she was being sexual harassed by two different soldiers who outranked her, including Robinson, but never formally reported the allegations, fearing retaliation. From Ron DeSantiss plan to severely target undocumented immigrants to mounting calls to bomb Mexico over drug cartels, the GOPs 2024 message on the border is coming into clearer focus. During the run, Chee, who had no preexisting health conditions, collapsed. We send our deepest condolences and prayers to her friends and loved ones, Col. Geoffrey Whittenberg, commander of the division, said in a statement. Chris and Moses friends of Gregory Wedel-Morales at the site of his remains, Killeen TX. She has said that if Guilln had felt able to come forward before, she might still be alive today. There had been a few people, then it was a group run of 11. But with each encounter, it was becoming clear that the military had not failed its soldiers at all. When verbal turned to physical (I wont get to into it) I reported it to the chaplainAt that moment is when I understood why the victims before me didnt go through with their reportthey were all talked down from it. Two days after Staff Sergeant Anthony Lovell, 40, disappeared in 2017, his body was found, eyes pecked clean, face split in half, in a creek off Killeens seedy main corridor called Rancier, the same street where Specialist Freddy Delacruz, 23, was shot and killed last March. I guess my point is, Rodriguez told me, if everything was fine, the way Fort Hood officials would lead us to believe, then why would this soldier, out of character, leave base without permission, and [why] did he not feel comfortable enough to call his captain or anyone on that base once he was arrested for speeding? More than 2,200 trials over land rights commenced. There was a deep cut above his left eye, and cuts all over his legs. The Army is about to leave the house from this visit they had. 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.

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