A Sergeant First Class assigned to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, died in an off-duty water-related mishap 20 June 2020 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, at 1200 local. The Soldier was swimming off shore with his child when they were caught in a rip current. The child was rescued and returned safely to the Soldier's spouse. Lifeguards performed CPR on the Soldier but were unable to resuscitate him. Alcohol use is unknown at this time.
Since FY16, the Army has lost an average of eight Soldiers a year to off-duty water-related mishaps. This tragedy was the fifth fatal off-duty water-related mishap of FY20 and below the number of off-duty water-related fatalities from this time last year.