Soldiers were training in darkness when their armored vehicle fell from a bridge and landed upside down in water below, killing three of those inside and injuring three others, the commanding general of Fort Stewart said Monday.Maj. Gen. Antonio Aguto struggled to hold back tears at a news conference as he read the names of the soldiers who died Sunday during a training exercise hours before dawn.'It is hard enough when you lose one soldier,' Aguto said. 'But when you lose three at one time, that pain is amplified. And we are really feeling and sharing that pain.' Sgt. 1st Class Bryan Jenkins, 41, of Gainesville, left, was killed in the accident along with Pfc. Antonio Garcia, 21, of Peoria, Arizona, right Cpl. Thomas Cole Walker, 22, of Conneaut, Ohio also lost his life in the tragic accidentThe Army identified the soldiers who died as Sgt. 1st Class Bryan Jenkins, 41, of Gainesville, Florida; Cpl. Thomas Walker, 22, of Conneaut, Ohio; and Pfc. Antonio Garcia, 21, of Peoria, Arizona.The soldiers belonged to the 1st Armored Brigade of the Fort Stewart-based 3rd Infantry Division. Aguto said the deadly crash happened shortly before 3:30am. Sunday as the brigade was training for a rotation early next year at the Army's National Training Center in California.Six soldiers were riding in a Bradley fighting vehicle in a training area of the sprawling Army post southwest of Savannah when it 'rolled off a bridge and was submerged upside down in a stream,' Aguto said.Aguto and Michael Barksdale, the Army's lead investigator on the crash, declined to give further details such as how far the vehicle fell and the depth of the water. RELATED ARTICLES Previous 1 Next Man who was left paralyzed from the neck down by a... 'Help, I'm stuck!': Base jumper calls the cops after he gets... Share this article Share Army Maj. Gen. Antonio Aguto, left, spoke through tears as he held a news conference alongside Army accident investigator Michael Barksdale about a training accident that killed three soldiers and injured three others Antonio Garcia, 21, of Peoria, Arizona was apparently driving the tank at the time of the crashThe Army is conducting autopsies to determine how the soldiers died. Investigators from the Army Combat Readiness Center at Fort Rucker, Alabama, expect to take up to four weeks before giving Fort Stewart commanders a preliminary report, Barksdale said.Three other soldiers in the vehicle were injured. Two were treated and released from an Army hospital the day of the crash. The third remained hospitalized Monday with injuries that weren't considered life-threatening, Aguto said.The training exercise being conducted early Sunday had been planned and rehearsed ahead of time, Aguto said. And while the remnants of Tropical Storm Nestor swept across southeast Georgia late Saturday and early Sunday, Aguto said there had been no severe weather warnings and the storm's rain and winds had already passed before the crash occurred. Thomas Col
General: Georgia soldiers died when vehicle fell from bridge
Soldiers were training in darkness when their armored vehicle fell from a bridge and landed upside down in water below, killing three of those inside and injuring three others, the commanding general of Fort Stewart said Monday.Maj. Gen. Antonio Aguto struggled to hold back tears at a news conference as he read the names of the soldiers who died Sunday during a training exercise hours before dawn.'It is hard enough when you lose one soldier,' Aguto said. 'But when you lose three at one time, that pain is amplified. And we are really feeling and sharing that pain.' Sgt. 1st Class Bryan Jenkins, 41, of Gainesville, left, was killed in the accident along with Pfc. Antonio Garcia, 21, of Peoria, Arizona, right Cpl. Thomas Cole Walker, 22, of Conneaut, Ohio also lost his life in the tragic accidentThe Army identified the soldiers who died as Sgt. 1st Class Bryan Jenkins, 41, of Gainesville, Florida; Cpl. Thomas Walker, 22, of Conneaut, Ohio; and Pfc. Antonio Garcia, 21, of Peoria, Arizona.The soldiers belonged to the 1st Armored Brigade of the Fort Stewart-based 3rd Infantry Division. Aguto said the deadly crash happened shortly before 3:30am. Sunday as the brigade was training for a rotation early next year at the Army's National Training Center in California.Six soldiers were riding in a Bradley fighting vehicle in a training area of the sprawling Army post southwest of Savannah when it 'rolled off a bridge and was submerged upside down in a stream,' Aguto said.Aguto and Michael Barksdale, the Army's lead investigator on the crash, declined to give further details such as how far the vehicle fell and the depth of the water. RELATED ARTICLES Previous 1 Next Man who was left paralyzed from the neck down by a... 'Help, I'm stuck!': Base jumper calls the cops after he gets... Share this article Share Army Maj. Gen. Antonio Aguto, left, spoke through tears as he held a news conference alongside Army accident investigator Michael Barksdale about a training accident that killed three soldiers and injured three others Antonio Garcia, 21, of Peoria, Arizona was apparently driving the tank at the time of the crashThe Army is conducting autopsies to determine how the soldiers died. Investigators from the Army Combat Readiness Center at Fort Rucker, Alabama, expect to take up to four weeks before giving Fort Stewart commanders a preliminary report, Barksdale said.Three other soldiers in the vehicle were injured. Two were treated and released from an Army hospital the day of the crash. The third remained hospitalized Monday with injuries that weren't considered life-threatening, Aguto said.The training exercise being conducted early Sunday had been planned and rehearsed ahead of time, Aguto said. And while the remnants of Tropical Storm Nestor swept across southeast Georgia late Saturday and early Sunday, Aguto said there had been no severe weather warnings and the storm's rain and winds had already passed before the crash occurred. Thomas Col
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