Overdose a leading cause of death for Fort Bragg soldiers



An alarming new exposé from Rolling Stone highlights the fact that the U.S. military is not immune to the nation’s ongoing opioid epidemic.

Through casualty reports obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, Rolling Stone found that a total of 109 soldiers assigned to Fort Bragg, active and reserve, lost their lives in 2020 and 2021. Only four of the deaths occurred in overseas combat operations.

Fort Bragg, located in North Carolina south of Raleigh, is one of the largest military bases in the world and is the headquarters of several of the Army’s commands.

After suicide, accidental overdose is the leading cause of death at Fort Bragg. A total of 21 deaths in the two years ending December 2021 can likely to attributed to drug overdoses, according to Rolling Stone.

The exposé highlights the story of Matthew Disney, who was a 20-year-old soldier stationed at Fort Bragg. Disney was found dead along with fellow radarman Joshua Diamond in the Fort Bragg barracks. Military investigators informed Disney’s mother, Racheal Bowman, that he had ingested an imitation Percocet, a prescription painkiller. The cause of death was acute fentanyl intoxication.

Rolling Stone found that at least 14, and as many as 30, Fort Bragg soldiers have died in this way since the start of 2020: “quietly, in their barracks, in their bunks, in a parked car, or somewhere off-post, from no outwardly apparent cause.”

“All these deaths are happening in the same way, and no one is talking about it,” Bowman told Rolling Stone. “It’s all very secretive. It’s all swept under the rug.” She adds, “This is obviously a problem. How is it that nobody knows about it?”

Rolling Stone also obtained the casualty reports for every U.S. soldier across the entire Army who died in 2021. The documents show that of 505 total deaths, 33 were confirmed overdoses. This number “would make overdose a leading cause of death among American soldiers,” behind suicide, illness, and accidents, but well ahead of homicides and combat fatalities. Rolling Stone notes that there were also 27 cases in which death resulted from “undetermined” causes, at least several of which were likely overdoses.

The opioid crisis has affected the military at all levels. Earlier this year, five cadets at West Point — the institution tasked with training the next generation of Army leadership — were treated for overdosing on fentanyl while on spring break. All the cadets survived.

Throughout America, 56,516 people died from overdosing on synthetic opioids like fentanyl in 2020.

Five people found dead in Denver apartment with 4-month old baby. DA says they died of fentanyl overdose.



Five people were found dead in a Denver, Colorado, apartment and a district attorney said they likely died from snorting cocaine that was laced with fentanyl.

Dan Marquez, the father to one of the victims, told KMGH-TV that his stepdaughter found the five victims dead after not having heard from his son, Sam.

"He’s 24. He loved his job; always talking about his job, talking about his new daughter. He loved his daughter," said Marquez.

According to friends of the victims, they believed they were ingesting cocaine, but it was laced with fentanyl.

29-year-old Cora, the daughter of Dan Marquez, survived and was hospitalized. His daughter-in-law Karina died, as well as his son-in-law and two of Karina's friends.

The baby found in the apartment was the newborn of Sam and Karina.

"It's terrifying to me," said district attorney Brian Mason told KUSA-TV. "This scene last night looked like a mass homicide scene."

Law enforcement authorities said they were actively investigating where the drugs came from and said they would aggressively prosecute anyone involved.

"Drug distributors and drug cartels are lacing everything with fentanyl right now. No drug is safe right now," said Mason.

Mason said penalties for fentanyl distribution should be raised in order to curb the overdose crisis.

"It is dangerous. It is lethal, and it is fast. And it is ravaging our community," he concluded.

KUSA reported that deaths related to fentanyl use in Colorado doubled in just one year from 2019 to 2020, the last year those statistics are available.

“Fentanyl’s no good, man,” said Marquez. “It’s the devil. It must of just took them just like that. All five of them."

Here's a local news report about the incident:

'It's the devil': Dad speaks out after son, several others found dead of likely fentanyl overdosewww.youtube.com