this post was submitted on 29 Aug 2024

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At least 17 Guard members have died while deployed to Texas border (www.stripes.com)

submitted 1 month ago by gAlienLifeform@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world

18 comments fedilink hide all child comments

At least 17 Texas National Guard members have died while deployed on the state’s three-year-old mission to deter criminal activity at the U.S. border with Mexico, according to state military officials.

Of those, the families of four service members received the newly authorized $500,000 death benefit and six families are waiting for a determination on whether they are eligible for the money. The remaining cases were denied the benefit or the service member had no eligible relative to receive the money.

The Texas Military Department has been tightlipped about troops serving at the border, though how many troops have died in connection to the mission came out during a hearing last week of the Texas House Committee on Defense and Veterans’ Affairs. Members heard from state officials regarding implementation of a new law to provide death benefits for troops who die while on state missions.

Archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20240829114658/https://www.stripes.com/theaters/us/2024-08-27/texas-national-guard-death-benefits-border-mission-14993111.html

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[–] Jaderick@lemmy.world 73 points 1 month ago (3 children)

The incidents on the border mission that led to troops dying have varied. Some of the soldier deaths reported include one who died from a medical emergency at a hotel where troops were staying in McAllen, and another who was accidentally shot in Fort Clark Springs. Two other soldiers died in a traffic accident in Laredo — one in the accident and the other by suicide in the minutes after the crash. At least four additional soldiers have died by suicide while assigned to the border.

the Sergeant who drowned trying to save people in the Rio Grande

This article is a ride and it makes this national guard deployment look even worse.

[–] wjrii@lemmy.world 28 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago)

This whole thing has been a travesty, but then, what else is new with statewide politics in Texas? Abbott is demanding lengthy deployments within a geographically huge state and upending these "part-time" servicemembers' lives, yet somehow also half-assing everything. They have no clear mission. They have no reasonable facilities. They have no productive coordination with federal resources (because this whole thing is an exclusively federal mandate). It's all fucked, because the primary-voting GOP base actively hates brown people and the rest of the party couldn't give a shit about anyone who doesn't vote for them.

[–] billiam0202@lemmy.world 21 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

Two other soldiers died in a traffic accident in Laredo — one in the accident and the other by suicide in the minutes after the crash

What the actual fuck?

[–] DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social 7 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

Murder/Suicide, right? And the Guard doesn't want to admit the murder part, so Suicide guy just accidentally rammed his Charger into the other person's car at 50 mph in a parking lot.

[–] brbposting@sh.itjust.works 10 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) (1 children)

Found a different story:

A 27-year-old guardsman is driving a Ford F150 just before 2 AM on the highway. The truck rolls over. The 27-year-old passenger guardsman is ejected(?) ("thrown off from the truck"). The driver performs CPR on the passenger unsuccessfully. The driver dies by suicide.

[–] DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social 2 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

That's wild. There has to be something more to that.

[–] billiam0202@lemmy.world 4 points 4 weeks ago

Driver FAFO'ed and offed himself instead of facing the consequences?

That's the only thing that makes sense here.

[–] Sir_Kevin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 16 points 4 weeks ago

So most of the reported deaths were suicide? WTF is going on over there!?

[–] ganksy@lemmy.world 18 points 4 weeks ago (3 children)

WTF is the Texas Military Department? Why would TX have a military

[–] wjrii@lemmy.world 23 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) (1 children)

So, every governor is nominally the head of their state's National Guard until and unless called up by the Federal Government. In Texas, the administration of these groups is rolled under the Texas Military Department. So, since this is an internal operation, the TMD is the one managing everything (and doing so terribly). In addition to the "normal" National Guard, subject to Federal activation, TMD also includes the "Texas State Guard" which is a couple thousand dorks and has-beens who want to pretend they're military. Historically, this has been fairly useful because they're some extra grunts to help out when there's a natural disaster, and whatever real TNG officer is on-site can tell them what to do. These days, though, it seems like a perfect place for militia types to park themselves with some faint color of official sanction, but I don't presume to know if that's happening to any significant degree.

[–] ganksy@lemmy.world 2 points 4 weeks ago

Thank you for the insight that's what I feared it was.

[–] catloaf@lemm.ee 11 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

State militias have been around since the start of the country. We were never supposed to have a standing federal army.

(And technically by law we don't, which is why the NDAA has to be passed every year.)

[–] ganksy@lemmy.world 1 points 4 weeks ago

50 state armies sounds like a worse idea but what do I know.

[–] Assman@sh.itjust.works 2 points 4 weeks ago

The national guard can be deployed by feds or by the state.

[–] BigMacHole@lemm.ee 7 points 1 month ago (2 children)

This is how you KNOW Governor Wheels LOVES the Troops! I forget his real name.

[–] killea@lemmy.world 7 points 4 weeks ago

He is properly identified as little piss baby Greg Abbott.

[–] wjrii@lemmy.world 4 points 4 weeks ago

Abbott, and he's indeed a piece of shit.