September: U.S. Department of Defense Casualties Report (2003)

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09/30/2003:  DoD Identifies Army Casualty: Christopher Cutchall, 30, Iraq, Fort Riley, Kansas

09/30/2003:  DoD Identifies Army Casualty: Evan O’Neill, 19, Afghanistan, Fort Drum, New York

09/29/2003:  Vietnam War MIA’s Identified

09/28/2003:  DoD Identifies Army Casualty: Robert Lucero, 34, Iraq, Wyoming Army National Guard

09/27/2003:  DoD Identifies Army Casualty: Lisa Andrews, 24, NCD, Overland Park, Kansas (on-leave), Kansas Army Reserve

09/27/2003:  DoD Identifies Army Casualty: Kyle Thomas, 23, Iraq, Caserma Ederle, Italy

09/26/2003:  DoD Identifies Army Casualty: Robert Rooney, 43, NCD, Shuabai Port, Kuwait, Massachusetts Army National Guard

09/25/2003:  DoD Identifies Army Casualty: Michael Andrade, 28, NCD, Iraq, Rhode Island Army National Guard

09/24/2003:  Remains of U.S. Servicemen Recovered in North Korea

09/23/2003:  DoD Identifies Army Casualty: Brian Faunce, 28, NCD, Iraq, Fort Carson, Colorado

09/23/2003:  DoD Identifies Army Casualty: Lunsford Brown II, 27, Iraq, Patton Barracks, Germany

09/23/2003:  DoD Identifies Army Casualty: David Friedrich, 26, Iraq, Connecticut Army Reserve

09/23/2003:  DoD Identifies Army Casualty: Paul Sturino, 21, Iraq, Fort Campbell, Kentucky

09/22/2003:  DoD Identifies Army Casualties: Anthony Thompson, 26, Richard Arriaga, 20, and James Wright, 27, Iraq, Fort Hood, Texas

09/22/2003:  DoD Identifies Army Casualty: Frederick Miller Jr, 27, Iraq, Fort Carson, Colorado

09/17/2003:  DoD Identifies Army Casualty: Craig Ivory, 26, NCD, Kuwait, Vicenza, Italy

09/17/2003:  DoD Identifies Army Casualty: Alyssa Peterson, 27, NCD, Iraq, Fort Campbell, Kentucky

09/16/2003:  DoD Identifies Army Casualty: Kevin Kimmerly, 31, Iraq, Baumholder, Germany

09/15/2003:  DoD Identifies Army Casualties: Kevin Morehead, 33, and William Bennett, 35, Iraq, Fort Campbell, Kentucky

09/15/2003:  DoD Identifies Army Casualty: Trevor Blumberg, 22, Iraq, Fort Bragg, North Carolina

09/12/2003:  DoD Identifies Army Casualty: Henry Ybarra III, 32, NCD, Iraq, Illesheim, Germany

09/11/2003:  DoD Identifies Army Casualty: Joseph Robsky Jr, 31, NCD, Iraq, Fort Irwin, California

09/11/2003:  DoD Identifies Army Casualty: Ryan Carlock, 25, Iraq, Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia

09/10/2003:  DoD Identifies Army Casualty: Jarrett Thompson, 27, NCD, Iraq, Delaware Army Reserve

09/04/2003:  DOD Identifies Army Casualty: Cameron Sarno, 43, NCD, Kuwait, Nevada Army Reserve

09/03/2003:  DoD Identifies Army Casualty: Sean Cataudella, 28, NCD, Iraq, Fort Hood, Texas

09/03/2003:  DoD Identifies Army Casualty: Charles Caldwell, 38, Iraq, Rhode Island Army National Guard

09/03/2003:  DoD Identifies Army Casualty: Christopher Sisson, 20, NCD, Iraq, Fort Bragg, North Carolina

09/03/2003:  DoD Identifies Army Casualties: Chad Fuller, 24, and Adam Thomas, 21, Afghanistan, Fort Drum, New York

09/02/2003:  DoD Identifies Army Casualty: Mitchell Lane, 34, NCD, Afghanistan, Fort Bragg, North Carolina

09/02/2003:  DoD Identifies Army Casualty: Joseph Camara, 40, Iraq, Rhode Island Army National Guard

Fort Bragg Army 1SG William Wright Murdered Wife Jennifer While Home on Leave from Deployment in Afghanistan; Died by Suicide in Jail While Awaiting Trial (June 29, 2002)

Forbidden: Dying for Love featured the Jennifer and William Wright 2002 homicide-suicide case on Investigation Discovery. ‘Onward, Christian Soldier’ highlighted the circumstances that lead to the murder of Jennifer Wright and the pain it inflicted on those who were left behind including their three sons. According to the show, William Wright was a Master Sergeant in the U.S. Army and was stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina with his wife and three children. MSgt Wright was routinely deployed after 9/11/2001 and as a result he was never home. Bill’s absence was hard on Jennifer and the marriage. She wanted Bill to leave the Army but the Army was his life; it’s what he was meant to do. While Bill was deployed in Afghanistan, he learned that Jennifer was telling people back home that he divorced her.

Bill was stunned to learn the news and was granted leave to go back stateside and deal with his family crisis. Bill learned Jennifer was having an affair with the pastor at church and she wanted a divorce. Instead of salvaging his marriage, Bill murdered Jennifer in the family home on June 29, 2002 and covered it up. When investigators questioned Bill about Jennifer’s murder, he broke down and told them everything. Bill admitted he hit his wife with a baseball bat and then strangled her to death. He then put her body in a garbage bag and buried her in some woods near Fort Bragg. In 2003, William Wright was in prison awaiting trial when he died by suicide in his jail cell. Jennifer and William’s sons expressed concern that the Army’s anti-malaria drugs negatively impacted their father’s health and was most likely the reason this tragedy occurred.

This domestic violence related homicide was one of five murders that occurred in a six week period at Fort Bragg in 2002. Rigoberto Nieves fatally shot his wife Teresa on June 11, 2002; Cedric Griffin fatally stabbed his wife Marilyn on July 9, 2002; Brandon Floyd fatally shot his wife Andrea on July 19, 2002; and military spouse Joan Shannon manipulated her daughter Elizabeth to shoot her step-father Major David Shannon on July 23, 2002 while he slept.

Source: ‘Onward, Christian Soldier’ Forbidden: Dying for Love

ID Go: While her husband serves in the army, a lonely married mother of three finds comfort in the arms of her church’s charismatic new minister. But danger looms in the form of a jealous love-rival that will stop at nothing to scare her away. -Onward, Christian Soldier, Forbidden: Dying for Love (S4,E4)

Editor’s note: With a cable subscription, you can download the free ID Go app and watch all of the Investigation Discovery programming at your convenience. And for those who do not have cable, you can watch “unlocked” episodes on the ID Go app including the latest premieres. Download the ID Go app and binge away. For those who prefer commercial free programming during your binge session, Prime Video has an ID channel: ‘True Crime Files by Investigation Discovery” available for $2.99 a month. It’s a compilation of older seasons but totally worth the cost if you are a true crime addict.

Related Links:
Fort Bragg Soldier Admits To Wife’s Murder
Wives’ slayings shock Army at Fort Bragg
Soldiers kill wives after serving in Afghanistan
Murders shake US military
A Base Rocked by Violence
A War at Home | People
Blood on the Home Front | Time
Death in the Ranks at Fort Bragg
4 Wives Slain in 6 Weeks at Ft. Bragg
Fort Bragg’s Deadly Summer | Vanity Fair (December 2002)
Rash of Wife Killings at Ft. Bragg Leaves the Base Wondering Why
Suicide In Fort Bragg Jail (March 24, 2003)
Special Forces Soldier Hangs Himself
Third Bragg soldier took malaria drug
Special Forces soldier charged in wife’s slaying hangs himself
What to Watch on Saturday: A Fayetteville murder on ID, new movies from Hallmark and Lifetime
Onward, Christian Soldier | Forbidden: Dying for Love | Investigation Discovery (S4,E4)
Onward, Christian Soldier | Forbidden: Dying for Love | Investigation Discovery (website)
Onward, Christian Soldier | Forbidden: Dying for Love | Investigation Discovery (Amazon)
Violent Crime, Non Combat Death and Suicide at Fort Bragg, North Carolina (US Army)
Death on the Home Front (2009)

Army Spouse Teresa Nieves Found Fatally Shot in North Carolina Home by Fort Bragg SFC Rigoberto Nieves in Murder-Suicide (June 11, 2002)

Take a stand against domestic violence

Two days after returning home from Afghanistan, Fort Bragg Army SFC Rigoberto Nieves shot and killed his wife Teresa Nieves after an argument on June 11, 2002 in their Fayetteville, North Carolina home; SFC Nieves then turned his .40-caliber service revolver on himself. This domestic violence related homicide was one of five murders that occurred in a six week period at Fort Bragg in 2002. William Wright admitted to murdering his wife Jennifer on June 29, 2002; Cedric Griffin murdered his wife Marilyn on July 9, 2002; Brandon Floyd murdered his wife Andrea on July 19, 2002; and military spouse Joan Shannon manipulated her daughter Elizabeth to shoot her step-father Major David Shannon on July 23, 2002 while he slept.

Related Links:
Obituary: Teresa M. Hernandez Nieves (June 11, 2002)
Obituary: SFC Rigoberto B. Nieves (June 11, 2002)
Wives’ slayings shock Army at Fort Bragg
Series of Slayings Shakes Fort Bragg
Murders shake US military
A Base Rocked by Violence
A War at Home | People
Blood on the Home Front | Time
Death in the Ranks at Fort Bragg
4 Wives Slain in 6 Weeks at Ft. Bragg
Fort Bragg’s Deadly Summer | Vanity Fair (December 2002)
Spate of domestic killings hits U.S. military base
US army stunned by spate of murders at special forces’ base
Rash of Wife Killings at Ft. Bragg Leaves the Base Wondering Why
How GI Heroes Turned Homes into Killing Fields
After Combat Overseas, Many War Veterans Killing Others At Home, Then Themselves
Spouse slayings, suicides raise alarm at Fort Bragg
4 slain wives had tried to leave
4 Army wives who were slain sought divorce
Soldiers kill wives after serving in Afghanistan
Army fights domestic violence in soldiers’ homes at Fort Bragg
Army Wifes’ Slayings Spurs Review
Army re-evaluating counseling program after four wives killed
Army Behavior Experts to Probe Fort Bragg Killings
Army base to take a look at its counseling program
Third Bragg soldier took malaria drug
Deaths highlight military problem
War Torn | Part 1 | The New York Times (January 12, 2008)
Death on the Home Front (2009)
A Decade after Murder-Suicides, D-Day for “the Agent Orange of our Generation”
Army Wives: The Unwritten Code of Military Marriage (Book)
30 Domestic Abuse Cases in the Military That Ended in the Murder of Female Partners (2017)
Violent Crime, Non Combat Death and Suicide at Fort Bragg, North Carolina (US Army)

Navy Seaman Bryant Davis Died in Non Combat Related Accident After Falling Overboard the Aircraft Carrier USS Kitty Hawk in North Arabian Sea (2001)

Bryant Davis
Bryant Davis, US Navy

Machinist’s Mate Fireman Apprentice Bryant L. Davis, 20, US Navy, died of a non combat death on November 7, 2001. Davis was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom aboard the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk in the North Arabian Sea. The Department of Defense reported in the press release that Davis was declared deceased after falling overboard. Search and rescue efforts were conducted but after a couple of days were halted.

Now, his family and friends are searching for an explanation. The Pentagon has provided no details on how the accident occurred, they said. “I don’t know what happened to my baby,” said Helen Davis, his grandmother. “I’m looking for answers. I will not stop until I get an answer.” –Chicago Tribune

Related Links:
DOD Casualty Update
Navy Machinist’s Mate Fireman Apprentice Bryant L. Davis
Sailor said God called him to serve
Kitty Hawk Completes Enduring Freedom Deployment

DoD Authorizes Stop Loss (September 24, 2001)