At least two of the nine Fort Hood soldiers killed last week when their tactical vehicle was swept away in a rain-swollen creek in Texas are from the tri-state region, according to a list of names released by military officials.
Staff Sgt. Miguel Colon-Vazquez, 38, of Brooklyn, and Pvt. Tysheena James, 21, of Jersey City, New Jersey, died in the incident, officials said.
Nine soldiers died in the training accident on Thursday, when their vehicle overturned at Owl Creek. The cause of the accident is being investigated by a team from the Army Combat Readiness Center in Alabama.
Colon-Vazquez became an active-duty soldier in 2003 as a motor transport operator. He was deployed in Iraq in 2005 and was there for a year, military officials said. He was sent to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in 2008 for three months and again in 2013 for about eight months.
A Go Fund Me page has been set up to receive contributions to help his wife and four children.
James became a military transport operator in November and had been stationed at Fort Hood since April.
"This is a tragedy affecting not only Jersey City, but all of the communities who have lost a soldier as a result of this accident at Fort Hood," said Mayor Steven Fulop. "Our deepest condolences go to the family and loved ones of Pvt. James."
