A U.S soldier died earlier this week when the Stryker armored vehicle they were in was hit by reportedly a semi-truck while the Stryker merged onto the northbound Autobahn 93 around 11:15am Tuesday morning in Bavaria, Germany, near Tirschenreuth. The soldier who died has been identified as 24-year-old First Lt. Hailey Hodsden, a platoon leader with the 2nd Cavalry Regiment and a native of Dripping Springs, Texas. Hodsden was reportedly looking out of an open hatch on the Stryker when the collision occurred.
Hodsden was taken to hospital and declared dead after the crash. The crash happened near Grafenwoehr Training Area, the U.S. Army’s largest permanent training area in Europe.
“Hodsden graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where she played on the rugby team. She commissioned as an armor officer and had been serving in the 2nd Cavalry Regiment for just over a year, a U.S. Army Europe and Africa statement said. “Hailey was an exceptional leader,” Lt. Col. Joseph Byerly, 4th Squadron commander, said in the statement. “As the Saber family mourns her loss, we are reminded of the courage and commitment that she displayed each day. She was a true example for others to emulate.”
The accident was the second tactical vehicle crash involving Army troops in Bavaria during training in less than a week. On Thursday, eight soldiers were injured in a military transport rollover near Vilseck. Those follow a nonfatal crash of an armored vehicle in Amberg in April. An investigation by Army and German authorities is ongoing. The accident marks the third motor vehicle-related death of a U.S. soldier in the German state this year.” –Stars and Stripes
