U.S. Army

The recent death of Army Specialist Vanessa Guillén at Fort Hood has raised public awareness of the prevalence of sexual harassment and assault in the military. There is also a growing awareness of the shocking number of Army soldiers who have died at Fort Hood. The bodies of three soldiers have been found in just four weeks at the base, and their deaths have nothing to do with combat.

Guillén went missing in April 2020, but her body was not found and identified until early July. She had confided to friends and family that she was being sexually harassed by two different soldiers who were higher in rank. One of these is the man who is believed to have murdered her; he shot himself as police approached to arrest him.

“We believe that Vanessa told him that she was reporting him,” the Guilléns’ attorney said, “and that’s why he bludgeoned her.”

But the search for Vanessa Guillén revealed another sinister turn; the body of another soldier who had been missing from Fort Hood since August 2019. Private Gregory Wedel Morales had been listed by the Army as Absent Without Leave (AWOL), despite the fact that Morales’s mother and friends all told authorities that this was, “not a usual thing for him to disappear.” Private Morales was also due to be discharged a few weeks after his disappearance. The Army suspects foul play in Morales’s death.

And now, for the third time in a month, the body of another Fort Hood soldier was found. On July 21, the body of Private Mejhor Morta was found near a lake on the base. There is no evidence linking the deaths of these three young soldiers — except for the fact that they are three in an alarming number of non-combat deaths that have occurred at or connected to Fort Hood.

The blog Military Justice for All keeps a list of deaths at Fort Hood. Since 2016, 146 soldiers have died while stationed at or deployed from Fort Hood. But only 28 of these losses have been related to training or deployment. Far more have been murdered, or ruled a suicide.

Families of soldiers struggle to get the military to respond to their concerns about missing loved ones. The Army often ignores the pleas of family and friends unless public pressure is brought to bear. Meanwhile, little is done to find these people who have sworn to protect Americans and uphold the US Constitution. Often, these soldiers “drift back to their units after a misadventure or unapproved vacation,” but other times their bodies may be found weeks later near a wrecked vehicle, or never found at all.

And the alarming number of deaths connected with Fort Hood is just part of the story. Named after Confederate General John Bell Hood, the base is one on a list of military installations whose names may be changed in an effort to stop honoring soldiers who fought to preserve the right to own slaves. But the base’s name pales in comparison to its connection to other hideous crimes. These include human trafficking, rape, and conspiracy to run a “prostitution ring using young female soldiers,” which was cooked up by a sergeant with the base’s sexual harassment reporting unit.

It is no surprise Vanessa Guillén did not feel comfortable reporting the offenses against her.

The Guardian reports that “About one in three service members report sexual assault.” Over half of those who report assaults experience retaliation, usually from someone in their chain of command. Since Spc. Guillén’s disappearance, other service members have shared stories of sexual harassment or violence under the hashtag #IAmVanessaGuillen. Marches and vigils have sprung up honoring Guillén and protesting the fact that she, like so many service members, did not feel comfortable reporting sexual misconduct.

Celebrities and lawmakers have called for changes in the way the military handles accusations of sexual assault and harassment. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden issued a statement to the Vanessa Guillén’s family, saying, “We owe it to those who put on the uniform, and to their families, to put an end to sexual harassment and assault in the military, and hold perpetrators accountable.”

After weeks of pressure from the Guillén family and the public, the Army has announced there will be an independent review into Vanessa’s death and the “command climate and culture” of Fort Hood. Specialist Guillén’s family will not be satisfied until the command structure of Fort Hood is replaced, though, and the culture of the base is addressed.

They plan to lead a peaceful protest in Washington, DC, on July 30 and present a proposed bill to Congress. “We will keep her alive through a bill that fixes this. We’re going to keep her alive with the whole country saying never forget,” said attorney Natalie Khawam.

The accountability that Vanessa Guillén’s family demands is an important first step for Fort Hood. Hopefully, it will lead to more legislation that protects soldiers who swear to protect the US.