A 19-year-old soldier died at Fort Benning during ‘training exercise,’ obituary says

Army officials are investigating the death of a soldier at Fort Benning.

Pvt. Voene C. Garcia, 19, of Indiana, died Sept. 10 at the army post. Fort Benning officials provided no other details on Garcia’s death, saying the matter was still under investigation.

Garcia’s obituary, published in The Times of Northwest Indiana, said he was a member of the U.S. Army National Guard and that he died “unexpectedly during a training exercise” at Fort Benning.

“He loved his family, enjoyed drawing and other forms of art, playing video games and Dungeons and Dragons,” the obituary reads.

Garcia’s funeral will be held at 1 p.m. on Sept. 21 at the Rees Funeral Home in Winfield/Crown Point, Indiana.

This story was originally published September 19, 2019 at 5:27 PM.

Nick Wooten

Columbus Ledger-Enquirer

Nick Wooten is the Accountability/Investigative reporter for the Ledger-Enquirer where he is responsible for covering several topics, including Georgia politics. His work may also appear in the Macon Telegraph. Nick was given the Georgia Press Association’s 2021 Emerging Journalist award for his coverage of elections, COVID-19 and Columbus’ LGBTQ+ community. Before joining McClatchy, he worked for The (Shreveport La.) Times covering city government and investigations. He is a graduate of Mercer University in Macon, Georgia.