Army releases names of all 9 soldiers killed in Fort Hood truck accident

[Editor's note: This story was first published at 12:50 a.m. June 5.]

Officials at Fort Hood, Texas, on Sunday released the name of the ninth soldier who died when a Light Medium Tactical Vehicle overturned in a flooded low-water crossing on post.

The names of the other eight soldiers were released late Saturday night.

Spc. Yingming Sun, 25, of Monterey Park, California, entered active-duty service in October 2013 as a motor transport operator and was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 16th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division since August 2014.

Sun’s awards and decorations include the National Defense Service Medal, the Korea Defense Service Medal and the Overseas Service Ribbon.

The Army on Saturday released the names of eight of the deceased soldiers while it completed the formal notification process for Sun's family.
The deadly accident happened Thursday morning. The soldiers were conducting small-unit convoy operations training when their Light Medium Tactical Vehicle overturned at Owl Creek. There were 12 soldiers in the LMTV. Three were rescued by other soldiers who were in a vehicle following the LMTV, officials said. The bodies of three others were recovered from the water downstream from the vehicle.

The remaining six soldiers were recovered after a massive search that stretched into Friday.
Most of the soldiers belonged to 3rd Battalion, 16th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division.

The soldiers who died in the incident were:

• Staff Sgt. Miguel Angel Colonvazquez, 38, from Brooklyn, New York.

Colonvazquez entered active-duty service in July 2003 as a motor transport operator. He was with 3rd Battalion, 16th Field Artillery Regiment since May 2011.

He deployed to Iraq from September 2005 to September 2006 and again from May to November 2011. Colonvazquez also deployed twice to Afghanistan, from March 2008 to May 2009 and from July 2013 to March 2014.

His awards and decorations include five Army Commendation Medals, five Army Achievement Medals, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal with campaign star, the Iraq Campaign Medal with campaign star, two Korea Defense Service Medals, and three Overseas Service Ribbons.

• Spc. Christine Faith Armstrong, 27, from Twentynine Palms, California.

Armstrong entered active duty in February 2014 as a motor transport operator. She was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 16th Field Artillery Regiment since September 2014.

Her awards and decorations include the National Defense Service Medal, the Korea Defense Service Medal and the Army Service Ribbon.

• Pfc. Brandon Austin Banner, 22, from Milton, Florida.

Banner joined the Army in March 2014 as a motor transport operator. He was with 3rd Battalion, 16th Field Artillery Regiment since July 2014.

His awards and decorations include the National Defense Service Medal, the Korea Defense Service Medal and the Army Service Ribbon.

• Pfc. Zachery Nathaniel Fuller, 23, from Palmetto, Florida.

Fuller entered active duty in November 2015 as a motor transport operator. He was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 16th Field Artillery Regiment since April.

His awards and decorations include a National Defense Service Medal and the Army Service Ribbon.

• Pvt. Isaac Lee Deleon, 19, of San Angelo, Texas.

Deleon entered active-duty service in November 2015 as a motor transport operator. He was with 3rd Battalion, 16th Field Artillery Regiment since April.

His awards and decorations include the National Defense Service Medal and the Army Service Ribbon.

• Pvt. Eddy Raelaurin Gates, 20, of Dunn, North Carolina.

Gates entered the Army in December 2015 as a motor transport operator, arriving at 3rd Battalion, 16th Field Artillery Regiment in April.

Gates’ awards and decorations include the National Defense Service Medal and the Army Service Ribbon.

• Pvt. Tysheena Lynette James, 21, of Jersey City, New Jersey.

James joined the Army in November 2015 as a motor transport operator, arriving at 3rd Battalion, 16th Field Artillery Regiment in April.

Her awards and decorations include the National Defense Service Medal and the Army Service Ribbon.

• Cadet Mitchell Alexander Winey, 21, of Valparaiso, Indiana.
Winey was a member of the United States Military Academy Class of 2018, assigned to Company B, First Regiment. He was a graduate of Chesterton High School in Chesterton, Indiana. He reported to West Point on July 2, 2014.

Winey, who was assigned to B Company, First Regiment, was at Fort Hood for Cadet Troop Leader Training, according to a Facebook message from West Point Superintendent Lt. Gen. Robert Caslen.

“Cadet Winey was enormously proud to be a cadet,” Caslen wrote. “Mitchell was an exemplary cadet in academics, as an engineering management major, during company athletics, and as a member of the Ski Patrol. He was clearly a rising leader in his class and a friend to everyone who knew him.”

The accident is under investigation by the Army Combat Readiness Center.

Fort Hood emergency personnel responded Thursday morning to a call for a swift-water rescue after the soldiers’ LMTV got stuck at the Owl Creek Tactical low-water crossing and East Range Road, according to information from Fort Hood.

Severe storms have pummeled Texas in recent days, with widespread flooding reported across the state. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott declared a state of disaster across 31 counties, and heavy rain was falling in some places at a rate of up to 3 inches an hour, according to The Weather Channel.
The road the soldiers were traveling on isn’t marked as a low-water crossing, which means it typically isn’t prone to flooding, said Lt. Col. Sunset Belinsky, a spokeswoman for the 1st Cavalry Division.

“But because of the unusual amount of rain we’ve received, water did come across the road,” she said.

A Fort Hood official speaking on background said that at the time of the incident all roads prone to flooding were already closed on post. Around the time the emergency call came in, officials from the Fort Hood Department of Emergency Services were advising leaders to shut down additional roads, the official told Army Times.

Fort Hood spokesman Chris Haug confirmed the account, saying Friday that at the time of the incident, “water was rising quickly” and “we were in the process of closing the roads,” Haug said.