28-Year-Old Soldier Found Dead in Barracks in South Korea—Investigation Pending

Victor Westerkamp
By Victor Westerkamp
October 25, 2019US News
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28-Year-Old Soldier Found Dead in Barracks in South Korea—Investigation Pending
Staff Sgt. Nicholas M. Scalzo, 28, an artilleryman from Selma, Ore., was found dead in his barracks at Camp Hovey, South Korea, Monday, Oct. 21, 2019. (U.S. ARMY)

A 28-year-old soldier was found dead in his barracks at Camp Hovey in South Korea on Monday, prompting an investigation into the cause of death.

Staff Sgt. Nicholas M. Scalzo, 28, an artilleryman from Selma, Oregon, was found unresponsive and pronounced dead by emergency medical personnel at Camp Hovey, near the city of Dongducheon in South Korea on October 21, the Army Times reported.

Scalzo joined the Army in Portland, Oregon, in July 2012. After completing training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, he was assigned to Fort Stewart, Georgia, according to Stars and Stripes.

In 2016, he was assigned to the 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Hood, Texas. This division was currently deployed to Korea as part of a nine-month rotation program under the 2nd Infantry Division.

NTD Photo
The 2nd Infantry Division hosted a 10-day Air Assault Course on Camp Hovey, South Korea, from Feb. 25 to Mar 8, 2013. (2nd Infantry Division US Army/Flickr)

“Command Sgt. Maj. Ryan McLane and I would like to send our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Staff Sgt. Nicholas Scalzo,” Col. Kevin Capra, Scalzo’s brigade commander, according to the Army Times.

“Nicholas was an integral member of the Steel Dragon and Greywolf teams,” Capra said, using unit nicknames. “We are all deeply saddened by the loss.”

Last month, another deceased soldier was reported by the Epoch Times, but this time the soldier was killed in the line of duty.

Pentagon Identifies a Special Forces Soldier Killed in a Taliban Hotbed Outside Kabul

The Pentagon has identified the Green Beret killed in action in a combat operation outside Kabul on Sep. 16.

Sgt. 1st Class Jeremy W. Griffin, 41, of Greenbrier, Tennessee, died due to “small arms fire” in Wardak Province, Afghanistan, on Monday, according to a statement by the U.S. Army.

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Sgt. 1st Class Jeremy W. Griffin was killed in Afghanistan on Sep. 16, 2019 (Photo Courtesy USASOC Public Affairs)

“The loss of Sgt. 1st Class Griffin is felt across the 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) Family and the entire Special Forces community,” said Col. Owen G. Ray, commander, 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) in the statement.

“He was a warrior—an accomplished, respected, and loved Special Forces Soldier that will never be forgotten. We ask that you keep his family and teammates in your thoughts and prayers,” he said.

Griffin enlisted in the army in 2004, and he was on his fourth combat deployment when he was killed in action. He had earlier served in Iran, Korea and twice before in Afghanistan.

“Sgt. 1st Class Griffin was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal and Purple Heart,” it added in the statement.

Epoch Times reporter Venus Upadhayaya and Reuters contributed to this report.

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