A soldier was left to die alone in his barracks for 5 days. His family wants to know why
“He died surrounded by his fellow soldiers but no one cared to check on him.”
BY MAX HAUPTMAN | PUBLISHED APR 14, 2022 11:38 AM
NEWS
ARMY
Caleb Smither
Pvt. Caleb Smither had been at Fort Bragg for just over seven weeks when he was found dead in his barracks room in Jan. 2020. He'd been ordered to remain in his room to rest, but nobody came to check on him until it was too late. (Task & Purpose photo composite.).
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On the afternoon of Jan. 21, 2020, Pvt. Caleb Smither was found dead in his barracks room at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Smither was assigned to the maintenance platoon of the 37th Brigade Engineer Battalion, part of the 82nd Airborne Division’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team. Just 19 years old, Smither had been at Fort Bragg for a little over seven weeks.
It was the first day back from a four-day weekend and Smither had not been accounted for that day. Smither had spent the previous week reporting to sick call and Womack Army Medical Center with severe headaches, nausea and sensitivity to light, for which he was prescribed medication and placed on quarters, after hitting his head on the radiator of a vehicle in the motor pool. Shortly before 3 p.m. Smither’s team leader, a specialist, asked the duty desk at the barracks for the keys to Smither’s room, according to a redacted Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID) report obtained by Task & Purpose. There, they discovered Smither’s body on the floor of the barracks room. According to the CID report, one of the soldiers present checked for a pulse, but it was fruitless: Smither was dead and had been for some time.
It was the first time anyone had actually seen or checked on Smither in at least five days — and his family is demanding the Army answer: why?
https://taskandpurpose.com/news/fort-bragg-caleb-smither-malpractice-claim/
