Another Ft. Wainwright soldier has been convicted of charges related to the death of a fellow Stryker Brigade member last year in Afghanistan. Sergeant Jeffrey Hurst was found guilty of one count of dereliction of duty at a court marshal trail at Ft. Brag North Carolina Friday.
According to an Army press release, Hurst was sentenced to a rank reduction and 45 days of hard labor for his role in the mistreatment of Private Danny Chen. Chen was found dead of an apparent suicide in a guard tower at a forward operating post in Afghanistan after enduring weeks of physical and verbal abuse by fellow soldiers. Eight soldiers were originally charged in Chen’s death. Six have now been sentenced in the case. The remaining two, Lieutenant Daniel Schwartz and Sergeant Andrew Van Bockel, are scheduled for courts martial in the Chen case. VanBockel’s trial starts tomorrow at Ft. Bragg.
Dan Bross is a reporter at KUAC in Fairbanks.
