Army investigating 2 soldiers found dead in Alaska

Two Alaska soldiers found dead in their homes in separate incidents

STARS AND STRIPES
By WYATT OLSON
Published: November 1, 2018

The Army is investigating separate deaths of two Alaska soldiers found in their living quarters late last month.

Spc. Mason James Guckavan, 21, died of a gunshot wound while in his barracks Oct. 26 at Fort Wainwright, Alaska, the Army said in a statement Thursday.

On Oct. 25, the body of Sgt. Andrew James Washington, 28, was discovered by personnel with the military and Anchorage Police Department during a welfare check after he failed to report to his place of duty, the Army said.
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Another Navy death on flight line?

Navy: Sailor was struck by propeller on carrier flight deck
KVOA 4 News Tucson
September 19, 2018

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — The U.S. Navy says a sailor who died aboard an aircraft carrier was struck by the turning propeller of a plane.

The Navy said in a statement on Wednesday that Airman Apprentice Joseph Min Naglak had just secured an E-2C Hawkeye radar plane to the flight deck. Naglak’s death occurred Monday aboard the USS George H. W. Bush while it was in the Atlantic Ocean.
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And this happened in June

NORFOLK, Va. — U.S. Navy officials say a sailor who died on a helicopter flight line at a base in Virginia died by suicide.

Newly Pinned Chief Petty Officer Found Dead

Jacksonville police suspect foul play after U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer found dead
CBS Action News
Updated: Sep 17, 2018

Loved ones are grieving the death of U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer Andrea Washington as the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office works to figure out how and why she died.

Washington was found dead in a north Jacksonville home on Monday. Police say they got a call for a medical emergency, but they suspect foul play.

A friend says that Washington was a mother of three and a 19-year veteran of the U.S. Navy. She had just been pinned as a Chief Petty Officer last week.
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Miramar Marine Sgt. Killed in Lemon Grove

Man Killed in Lemon Grove Shooting ID'd as Miramar Marine
NBC 7 News San Diego
By Alexander Nguyen
Sep 9, 2018

A man shot and killed early Friday morning in Lemon Grove was identified Sunday as a Marine sergeant stationed at Marine Corps Air Station, Miramar, the San Diego County Sheriff's Department said.

Sheriff's deputies spotted a car parked in the middle of the street on Pacific Avenue, near the Lemon Grove Square Shopping Center shortly after midnight Friday, sheriff's Lt. Rich Williams said.

Inside, they found Sgt. Christopher Truax Jr., 21, bleeding from a gunshot wound, and a woman. Truax soon stopped breathing and despite CPR efforts from first responders, he was pronounced dead around 12:39 a.m., Williams said.
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Sailor from Florida found dead at Norfolk

Sailor found dead on base in Norfolk
Navy Times
By: Mark D. Faram
August 13, 2018

NORFOLK, Va. — A sailor from Naval Computer and Telecommunications Area Master Station, Atlantic was found dead at Naval Station Norfolk Friday night, Lt. Cmdr. Ben Tisdale, spokesman for U.S. Fleet Cyber Command told Navy Times on Monday.

Tisdale said the cause of the death was still under investigation on Monday but officials have identified the deceased sailor as Information Systems Technician 3rd Class Joshua I. Johnson.

A three-year Navy veteran, Johnson, 22, was originally from Orange Park, Florida.
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Sailor killed when fuel tank detached from Sea Hawk helicopter

Sailor killed, another injured in California after fuel tank detached from Sea Hawk helicopter
STARS AND STRIPES
By COREY DICKSTEIN
Published: August 7, 2018

WASHINGTON — A Navy helicopter crewmember was killed and another suffered minor injuries last week at a California base when a fuel tank detached from a utility helicopter and landed on them, Navy officials said Tuesday.

An aircrew assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 85 prepares to take off in a HH-60H Sea Hawk helicopter from Naval Air Station North Island, Calif., Oct. 19, 2016. CHARLES E. WHITE/U.S. NAVY

Navy Helicopter Aircrewman 1st Class Jonathan Richard Clement died July 30 when an auxiliary fuel tank fell on him from an HH-60H Sea Hawk during “hotseat” operations at Naval Air Station North Island, said Navy Cmdr. Ron Flanders, a spokesman for Naval Air Forces. During hotseat operations, a helicopter typically lands, is refueled or the crew is switched out while it is still running and quickly takes off again.

The helicopter was on the ground when the fuel tank fell, Flanders said. It contained fuel and potentially weighed some 1,500 pounds.
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Moody Air Force Base Master Sergeant Found Dead

Airman from Moody Air Force Base found dead in Missouri
ABC 27 News WTXL.com
Jul 15, 2018

MOODY AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. (WTXL) - An airman part of a unit connected to Moody Air Force Base was found dead in Missouri on Saturday.

Master Sergeant Brett Davidson, 37, was found in the water and pronounced dead at about 11:30 a.m. in Rocky Mount, Missouri on Saturday.

He was assigned to the 19th Air Support Operations Squadron at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
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Death of Navy Corpsman Under Investigation

Navy Corpsman Found Dead in Barracks ID'd as Emmett Blake Rowan
NBC 7 News San Diego
By Alexander Nguyen
July 6, 2018

The sailor that was found dead in his barracks Monday was identified Friday as Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Emmett Blake Rowan, Navy officials said.

Rowan was found around 9 a.m. at Naval Medical Center San Diego, where he was stationed.

Rowan, a native of Brookville, Pennsylvania, enlisted in the Navy on June 25, 2013, and reported to basic training at Recruit Training Command in Great Lakes, Illinois from June 25, 2013, to Aug. 24, 2013.
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Fort Knox Soldier stole gun--found dead

Coroner: Soldier found in Clarksville died of self-inflicted gunshot wound
News and Tribune
BY ELIZABETH DEPOMPEI
Jun 12, 2018

Njoroge was assigned to the 14th Human Resources Sustainment Center, 1st TSC at Fort Knox, Ky., according to a news release from the U.S. Army. He was on leave in Clarksville at the time of his death.

CLARKSVILLE — An investigation into the death of a U.S. Army soldier on leave in Clarksville is ongoing.

Pfc. Bryan N. Njoroge, 21, of McKinney, Texas, was found unconscious on Clarksville High School property near the announcer station at the school's baseball field around 3:30 p.m. Saturday, according to a police report. The responding officer observed a gun and a "large amount of blood" surrounding Njoroge.

Clark County Coroner Billy Scott said Tuesday the death is preliminarily attributed to a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Toxicology results are pending.

A second police report from the Clarksville Police Department shows that a gun was reported stolen from American Shooters around 8 p.m. Friday. Using witness statements and security footage, police identified the theft suspect as Njoroge, who had left his military I.D. at the business.

An employee told police Njoroge had been in the indoor range three times during the day, each time renting the same gun. Njoroge reportedly came out to the front counter around 8:10 p.m. As other customers entered the store, Njoroge "slowly made his way away from the front counter towards the door" and left the store, according to the police report.

Njoroge was found deceased outside Clarksville High School the next day. The school is located less than a half-mile from American Shooters.
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Search ends for missing veteran Donovan Jared Crittendon

Body of Army veteran missing for nearly a week found in Cumberland River
The Tennessean
Amy Nixon
June 9, 2018

The body of a Hartsville man missing nearly a week was found in the Cumberland River this morning in Trousdale County.

The body of Donovan Jared Crittendon, 26, was recovered from the Cumberland River just west of the 141 bridge in Trousdale County around 8:30 Saturday morning, according to authorities.

Members of Crittendon's family shared a Facebook post which said that the Army veteran was last seen Sunday, June 3.
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Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Bannister passed away

UPDATE

Coroner releases cause of death for Army general who died while on leave
Major General Jeffrey Bannister, 57, who was on transition leave in Lake Murray, died Sunday due to natural causes, coroner Margaret Fisher said.

Retiring Army general dies while on leave in South Carolina
STARS AND STRIPES
By DENISSE RAUDA
Published: May 30, 2018

The Rome, Ga., native served in Iraq and led divisions at Ft. Carson, Colo. He commanded the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, N.Y., from 2015 until May of last year. His time there included an 11-month deployment to Afghanistan.

An Army general died Sunday while on leave in South Carolina and his death is being investigated, according to a statement from Shaw Air Force Base.

Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Bannister, 57, was on the verge of retirement and on transition leave when he died at Lake Murray near Columbia, S.C., base officials told WIS-TV.

Bannister, who served in the Army for 34 years, was assigned to Shaw as a special project officer for the Chief of Staff of the Army, the report said.
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Shaw Air Force Base female Airman found dead

30-year-old airman from Shaw Air Force base found dead in hotel
by ABC News 4
May 21st 2018

Sumter, S.C. (WCIV) — An airman at Shaw Air Force base was found dead this weekend at an off-base hotel.

The incident remains under investigation by the Sumter County Sheriff's Office.

Monika Carillo, 30, Airman 1st Class, assigned to the 20th Component Maintenance Squadron (CMS) at Shaw Air Force Base, was found dead on Saturday at approximately 10 p.m., according to the public affairs department with the United States Air Force.

She was an electronic warfare section team member who served in the Air Force since Sep. 12, 2017.
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How did Robbie West really die?

Family claims murder as they seek to reopen Fort Benning soldier suicide case
WRBL News
By: Mikhaela Singleton
Updated: Apr 21, 2018

"There was a lack of blood splatter, there was the weapon that was laid in his lap and it was up under a fold of his belly, which how can you shoot yourself in the head, lean over to the right, then the gun fall perfectly under the flap of your belly?" Deanne asks.

COLUMBUS, Ga. (WRBL) - Nearly seven years after losing her son, Christopher Robert "Robbie" West's mother says getting his case attention again is bittersweet.

Robbie West was a U.S. Army Sergeant who passed July 17, 2011. The Phenix City Police Department and Army CID ruled his death a suicide and closed the case, but Deanne Miller remains convinced otherwise. That's why she tells News 3 she contacted the Crime Watch Daily with Chris Hansen to further investigate her son's death.

"It's something of course you don't want to be on TV for, but it's because of the situation and because there's nothing we can change about what happened it's amazing that they contacted us," Deanne says.

Once producers with the show responded to Deanne's request, she and her family's lawyer Thomas Worthy shared the evidence they believe prove Robbie's death was actually a murder.
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Death of Chief Petty Officer Under Investigation

Navy identifies man killed in shooting at Ewa Beach home
Associated Press
April 18, 2018

HONOLULU (AP) — The Navy has identified a man who was killed in a shooting Sunday at an Ewa Beach home.

The Navy said 41-year-old Chief Petty Officer John Ellsworth Hasselbrink, a submariner who served 22 years at Pearl Harbor, was killed in the shooting.

Hasselbrink was shot while trying to open the door of a 33-year-old Ewa Beach resident’s house in the middle of the night, according to police reports.

The resident was arrested but released Monday night without charges, pending further investigation.

The U.S. Pacific Fleet submarine force, citing police reports, said Hasselbrink had been attempting “to enter a residence other than his own by mistake.”

He died at the scene.
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Death of Fort Polk Soldier under investigation

Fort Polk soldier fatally shot
American Press
Pamela Sleezer
April 17, 2018

18 year-old Pvt. Jacob S. Malcolm of Hedgesville, W. Va. Malcolm enlisted with the Army in February of 2017 and at the time of his death was stationed at Fort Polk

Fort Polk officials are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of a soldier who was fatally shot on Thursday.

According to spokesperson Kim Reischling, the soldier suffered a fatal gunshot wound at a residence at the Vernon Parish installation and was pronounced dead by the Vernon Parish deputy coroner at 7:04 p.m.

She said the gunshot wound was not self-inflicted.
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Soldier found dead at Camp Carroll

US soldier found dead at Army base in South Korea
ABC News
By MARK OSBORNE
Mar 9, 2018

A U.S. soldier was found unresponsive and pronounced dead at a military base in South Korea on Friday morning.

The unnamed soldier was a member of the 35th Air Defense Artillery stationed at Camp Carroll in Daegu City, South Korea. Daegu is located about two hours southeast of Seoul in the southeastern part of the country.
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Two Fort Hood soldiers die days apart at home

Two Fort Hood soldiers die days apart, each found at his residence
Military Times
By: Nicole Bauke
1 hour ago

Two soldiers were reportedly found unresponsive at their Fort Hood residences just one day apart from each other.

Spc. Devon Michael Wulff, 23, was found unresponsive at his home on Feb. 28 and died three days later, and Pvt. 2 Colton Everett Vassar, 29, was discovered on March 1, according to two separate press releases from Fort Hood, Texas.

Both incidents are under investigation.

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Three Non-combat deaths Operation Inherent Resolve this year

Mystery surrounds 'non combat' death of female soldier battling ISIS in Iraq as her body is returned home and Department of Defence announce an investigation
Daily Mail UK
Associated Press
March 3, 2018

The Department of Defense announced Tuesday that 26-year-old Christina Marie Schoenecker, Arlington, died Monday in Baghdad, Iraq
The department did not release any details about her death and said it is under investigation
The Army Sgt. was the third soldier to die since the beginning of 2018 in the U.S.-led fight against ISIS called Operation Inherent Resolve
The military noted that 51 U.S. military members have died since the start of Operation Inherent Resolve in 2014

Mystery surrounds the death of an Army Reserve soldier from Kansas who has died in Iraq in a non-combat situation.

The Department of Defense announced Tuesday that 26-year-old Christina Marie Schoenecker, Arlington, died Monday in Baghdad, Iraq.

The department did not release any details about her death and said it is under investigation.

The Department of Defense announced Tuesday that 26-year-old Christina Marie Schoenecker (Pictured), Arlington, died Monday in Baghdad, Iraq

The Army Sgt. was the third soldier to die since the beginning of 2018, according to The Kansas City Star. 

All three deaths in the ongoing, U.S.-led fight against ISIS called Operation Inherent Resolve were non-combat related. Schoenecker enlisted in the Army in May 2009 and was on her first deployment, which began last June. A human resources specialist, she was assigned to the 89th Sustainment Brigade out of Wichita. read more here

Death of Soldier in Baghdad Under Investigation

Army identifies soldier killed in noncombat incident in Baghdad 
STARS AND STRIPES 
By CHAD GARLAND 
Published: February 20, 2018 

The Pentagon has identified a soldier who died in a noncombat incident Monday in Iraq while supporting Operation Inherent Resolve, the U.S.-led anti-Islamic State campaign. 

In a statement Tuesday, the military said Sgt. Christina Marie Schoenecker, 26, of Arlington, Kan., died in Baghdad. The circumstances of her death are under investigation, which is standard for fatal events. 

Schoenecker was assigned to the 89th Sustainment Brigade, Wichita, Kan. 
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Pte Sean Benton's death the Deepcut Army barracks strange inquest

Ex-Army sergeant 'jumped out of a coffin during a funeral practice for a young soldier who died at Deepcut barracks in a "disgusting and disrespectful" prank as inquest hears cadets were asked to clean up his blood after he shot himself
Daily Mail
By Richard Spillett for MailOnline
30 January 2018

Private was the first of four recruits to die at Army barracks in seven years
Former comrade tells inquest a sergeant jumped out of coffin at funeral practice
Sergeant is said to have pushed recruits 'to the limit' and 'didn't like' late soldier
A friend said he was told to clear up blood and remove evidence of the shooting

A new inquest is being held into Pte Sean Benton's death the Deepcut Army barracks in 1995

He told the inquest in Woking, Surrey today that former sergeant Andrew Gavaghan jumped out of a makeshift coffin - which had originally been filled with sandbags - as soldiers carried it during a practice session ahead of the funeral.

A former Army sergeant hid inside and jumped out of a makeshift coffin which was being used by soldiers to practice for the funeral of a young recruit who had died in a shooting at the controversial Deepcut barracks, a coroner heard today.

Pte Sean Benton was found dead with five bullet wounds to his chest on June 9, 1995. The 20-year-old was the first of four recruits to die at the Surrey barracks in seven years, a new inquest into his death has heard.

Former fellow recruit and close friend Neil Williams was initially refused permission by officers to attend the funeral but was finally allowed when Pte Benton's mother, Linda, requested him was a pallbearer.

Mr Williams also told how he was asked to take part in the clear-up at the site of Pte Benton's shooting.
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