He fell in love with what he was doing and decided he was going to make a career out of it, says his dad, who still lives in the remote Upper Peninsula of Michigan where Billy grew up skateboarding and riding motocross. More: Myron B. Pitts: Fort Bragg name to become a thing of the past good. Weve been looking for him all day. Ian Paul McLaughlin, 29, of Newport News, Virginia, was killed Jan. 11, 2020, by an improvised explosive device in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Aside from suicide, overdose and complications from drug abuse including steroids was the leading cause of death. Goodman completed four deployments to Afghanistan, one to Iraq, two to Africa, and one to Kyrgyzstan, the statement said. Crime-scene technicians would have photographed it on December 2nd, when they turned aside the nylon blanket he was wrapped in and saw him barefoot and shirtless, shot multiple times in the chest. 0:44. Personnel numbers are also kept secret, but two years ago, a retired Delta Force colonel, a veteran of the Iraq War, told me that the unit is made up of about 250 operators, plus another 2,000 support troops. Lt. Col. Val Moro, commander of 1st Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, said those who served with Mount will mourn his loss. This data emerged amid increasing awareness of rising rates of drug use notably of cocaine and steroids in the Special Operations Forces. He was promoted to master sergeant in July 2019, becoming an operations team sergeant for a Special Forces Operational Detachment-Alpha, officials said. Even though its a closed case, Laura says, they told us the investigation doesnt see the public eye.. Pfc. He was two years younger than Lavigne and had recently completed Special Forces selection, a rugged, punishing Fort Bragg program known as the Q-course. Matthew Disney, 20, of Aberdeen, Maryland. Edward Allen Bellis III. The problems persisted. A memorial service today at Fort Bragg makes 25 years since the 82nd Airborne Division suffered its biggest one-day loss of life since World War II. He saw people die. On June 20th, in Carthage, he was arrested at a McDonalds for striking a woman with a bag of food. Theyre covering something up. Army authorities wont disclose the total number of soldiers stationed there who died in 2020, but Lavigne was one of a spate of homicides and suicides that brought the tally up to at least 44, pushing Fort Bragg to a decisive first-place finish in a race no one wanted to win. Estella doesnt know if he was still on the premises when the cops arrived. Ari McGuire, died of a fentanyl overdose at Fort Bragg in August 2019, after he was allegedly introduced to drugs by his platoon sergeant in Afghanistan. and Pfc. Lavigne was entitled to a variety of due process protections. After this story went to press, a U.S. Army Special Operations Command spokesperson gave this statement to Rolling Stone regarding how the command handled Billy Lavignes legal trouble: Due to his length of service, Master Sgt. In May of that year, he met Mark Leshikar, another stubborn, hardheaded country boy from way up north. The remaining three are still at large from incidents in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Queens, N.Y., and Detroit, Mich. ArMA is the primary source for non-emergency issues (Priority-2 & Priority-3) demand maintenance order (DMO) submissions. We were trying to find the park ranger or their offices, or anything.. McLaughlin and Villalon were soldiers who were part of the B Company, 307th Airborne Engineer Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division. Military and Civilian personnel must register for ArMA to submit DMOs. He was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg in March 2017 after completing airborne school at Fort Benning, Georgia. At least 44 Fort Bragg soldiers died stateside in 2020 several of them were homicides. He was assigned to the Special Warfare Medical Group in October 2019, for medical rehabilitation of a training injury, officials said. Lavigne was entitled to a variety of due process protections. He was the rock in my life. He doesnt believe the story told by the other six campers that Roman-Martinez simply wandered off at night, leaving his phone, wallet, and glasses behind in the tent. Nice, normal people. Others, she says, are narcissistic, or have some other character defect that produces a sense of entitlement, like they can get away with anything. On March 28th, the Fayetteville police responded to an incident in which he was suspected of shooting into an occupied dwelling. Here's who they are. Daddy started walking towards Uncle Billy, and Uncle Billy started shooting him. Enrique was blind as fuck without his glasses, Romero says. Zygarowski, who enlisted in the Army in 2018, was a mechanic assigned to The Fayetteville Observer. 2023 Rolling Stone, LLC. Appropriate adverse action, which was previously initiated in response to substantiated misconduct, was being finalized at the time of Master Sgt. Lavigne was transported downtown, but did not remain long in the police station. By the end of the year, there had been 21 suicides at Fort Bragg, more than at any other U.S. military post. He also deployed with the 2nd Brigade Combat Team in 2017 during Iraqs liberation of Mosul from the Islamic State. On May 9, 2018, roughly three months after Becky Kunzes death, Sarah Hartsfield fatally shot her onetime fianc in the large home they had moved to from Texas months before. I would rather see peace than war. In light of this disturbing trend, the letter reads, we write seeking a full understanding of the pattern of overdoses., Sen. Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts who has sponsored a number of bills to combat the opioid epidemic, is spearheading the oversight effort. Zygarowski, who enlisted in the Army in 2018, was a mechanic assigned to The 172,000-acre Fort Bragg base is one of the world's largest military complexes with approximately 57,000 military personnel, 11,000 civilian employees and 23,000 family members. Just a while ago the FBI went and dived in the area, and didnt find anything. Fort Bragg; which has nearly double the soldier population as Fort Hood, is reporting 24 deaths so far this year, with five of them happening in accidents, one homicide, seven from illness, nine by suicide and two still pending. 2020 Soldier Fatalities on Major Installations, January 1 2020 August 13 2020 (KWTX) Rachael Riley. In the bed of the truck and on the ground beside it were two dead men. It would be an exaggeration to say that Fayetteville must be a more dangerous duty station than Raqqa or Kandahar, and yet piecing together data provided by Col. Buccino, and previous Army disclosures to the McClatchy news agency, as well as reports in the local media, I count no fewer than 44 active-duty deaths at Fort Bragg during 2020. Roman-Martinez had done multiple parachute jumps in the course of his training, but he was an HR specialist, a guy whose job it was to maintain personnel records. .An Idaho forensic pathologist on Wednesday detailed how doomsday mom Lori Vallows two children were killed in 2019, including how her 7-year-old son was allegedly strangled to death by a plastic bag over his head and duct The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time The autopsy showed that he had been shot from multiple angles, including from behind. On Friday night, there was a thunderstorm. Why in the hell would you just let some guy off on murder?, A waste of paper is how Nicole describes CIDs report, which she received in heavily redacted form. David Eugene Hughes Jr., 32, of Fresno, California, died when his motorcycle ran off the road and hit a utility pole Sept. 4 in Fayetteville. But he scared me.. But neither JSOC nor USASOC responded to repeated requests for comment. On top of the sort of training that all Rangers, Green Berets, and Navy SEALs have to go through, he had been schooled in sabotage, demolition, hostage rescue, tactical driving, lockpicking, and spy-trade craft such as how to shadow people, use dead drops, and live under a cover identity. The Department of Defense announced 25 total casualties of service members who died in combat or noncombat-related incidents throughout 2020. Joseph Zygarowski who died during a training exercise at Fort Bragg on April 19. Leshikar opened the hood of the car, a Honda Accord, and with the engine still hot, began to disassemble it. He was looking to be helpful and to be part of the team.. He was a human resource specialist in the 82nd Airborne Divisions 37th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team. Staff writer Rachael Riley can be reached at rriley@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3528. They have a different society, Lavigne would respond, in Nicoles recollection, and while I dont agree with it, we shouldnt be doing what were doing over there. . We want to hear it. I could never take anything serious.. The base so far this year has seen five homicides, seven suicides, eight accidents, two illnesses and five deaths that are still under investigation. The camera flash has rendered his retinas red. Sgt. Send us a tip using our anonymous form. - Page 2. Full disclosure, Nicole says, me and Billy and Mark all did coke together., On multiple occasions, she saw other special operators snorting cocaine, too. Most recent obituaries in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. In 2018, former senior special-forces sergeants Daniel Gould and Henry Royer were busted trying to import punching bags that had been gutted and packed with cocaine from Colombia. The colonel used to be involved in selection, he said, and in addition to superlative marksmanship, he would look for introversion and artistic ability in potential recruits. What followed has never been adequately explained. Its not just combat trauma and moral injury, says Naylor. August 12, 2022 (52 years old) View obituary. More: Fort Bragg paratroopers killed in Afghanistan remembered for their sacrifice. Jessica Donati, the author of Eagle Down: The Last Special Forces Fighting the Forever War, tells me that since 2014, the burden of maintaining the United States never-ending war in Afghanistan has shifted almost entirely onto the Green Berets, who have been used by successive administrations as a political tool to plug holes in policies that dont work, and to maintain the fiction that the United States has withdrawn from combat operations. Bragg that are still unexplained but many believe might be tied to the U.S. Armys policy of mandatory covid-19 vaccinations:. He was promoted to master sergeant in July, becoming an operations team sergeant for a Special Forces Operational Detachment-Alpha, officials said. Governor Roy Cooper ordered all U.S. and North Carolina flags at state facilities to half-staff beginning immediately until sunset Wednesday, April 26, in honor of U.S. Army Sgt. Miguel Angel Villalon, 21, of Joliet, Illinois, was killed in the same incident. Multiple people who knew Lavigne tell me that he regularly snorted cocaine, took MDMA, popped pills, and drank heavily. It's a tremendous loss for all of us,Carroll said. FORT BRAGG A soldier is being mourned after he was killed during a training exercise at Fort Bragg, officials said Friday. The identity of a soldier struck and killed by a vehicle on Fort Bragg last week was released Monday. Everybody seemed to know the same people. She wipes away tears. In November, yet another soldier, a 24-year-old Texan, was discovered unresponsive in his bunk, with no further details from the Army. There is no record of an indictment for either offense. On-post deaths or off-post accidents and incidents: Officials released information throughout the year about the deaths of other Fort Bragg soldiers who either died on post or in off-post inicidents. Three Fort Bragg soldiers died while deployed overseas in 2020, according to the Department of Defense. He enlisted in the Army on March 12, 2019, as an x-ray Special Forces candidate. A spokesman, Chris Grey, writes in an email that Cumberland County had investigative jurisdiction over the case but that CID thoroughly reviewed all the evidence and interviewed witnesses. As Sarah pounded on the neighbors door, he opened fire on her. The 50 Worst Decisions in Music History A Fort Bragg spokesperson identified the soldier as Sgt. He is unsmiling, his eyebrows raised, his eyes intently focused on the photographer. A pixelated face is the apogee of the operator aesthetic, which begins with long hair, a bushy beard, and a checkered keffiyeh worn around the neck. Nor would the base discuss the perplexing incidence of young men turning up unresponsive in their bunks, such as 19-year-old Caleb Smither, whose body was so decomposed when they found him that he couldnt have an open-casket funeral. As soon as the rockets began to burst, We had to get out of there. The details, gleaned from an administrative inquiry by the Army to determine whether Leshikar died in the line of duty, are sketchy: Around 1 p.m., while still on the road, Lavigne texted Laura to tell her that Leshikar was acting paranoid. Pvt. In this one, he is sitting in what looks to be a restaurant booth, dressed in a gray vest and a purple dress shirt. You would not believe how many people I have reached out to. Lavigne, who was divorced and had a succession of girlfriends, loved being a dad, Nicole says. Ruth Sparks, a native of San Jose, California, and resident of Fort Bragg, California, passed away on December 1, 2022, surrounded by her family. I killed my best friend, he said, according to Patino. In response to these and other embarrassments, including President Trumps pardon of former SEAL Eddie Freaking Evil Gallagher, the commander of all special-operations forces, Gen. Richard Clarke, ordered a comprehensive ethics review in August 2019. She also retrieved her Glock from the bedroom and stuck it under a couch cushion. It far surpassed Fort Hood, where 28 soldier deaths in 2020 led to a congressional investigation, a sweeping indictment of the installations toxic culture, and the dismissal of most of the chain of command.
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