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Military Matters


Welcome to Military Matters, a podcast from Stars and Stripes. Listen as host Rod Rodriguez explores the topics that matter to service members, veterans, and the people who support them.

Jul 31, 2020

Fort Hood, Texas, has seen a shocking number of soldiers killed in recent months and in this episode of Military Matters, the podcast looks at two of those cases — the homicides of Pfc. Gregory Wedel and Pfc. Brandon Rosecrans.

Host Rod Rodriguez talks with Gregory Wedel's mother, Kim, about her struggle to get information from police and Army officials about her son's case, and, after learning of the discovery of his remains, the agonizing effort she has endured to have his classification as a deserter rescinded so he could receive a military burial.

Defense lawyer Stephen Karns, a former Judge Advocate General officer, also helps shed light on the ins and outs of desertion cases and talks why he finds it surprising that Pfc. Wedel's command decided to take that course.

Rod also talks with Thomas Berg, the stepfather of Pfc. Brandon Rosecrans, and why he remains hopeful that authorities will find those who left his son shot and dead in his own burning Jeep.

There remain many questions about slayings at Fort Hood, and the families of Wedel and Rosecrans think their cases largely would have been overlooked had it not been for the months of publicity surrounding the murder of Spc. Vanessa Guillén, the topic of our season two premiere.

We understand that there are many other soldiers' deaths that are unsolved and we hope that by putting a spotlight on these two service members, we can help bring attention to them as well as to the cases we haven’t mentioned.

If you have any information about these or other cases, please call the Killeen Police Department at 254-501-8800 or contact your local law enforcement.

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