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Families continue to grieve one year after nine die in flooding on Fort Hood

Posted at 7:24 PM, Jun 02, 2017
and last updated 2017-06-02 22:05:58-04

On the first anniversary of the flooding incident on Fort Hood, the families of two of the nine victims are frustrated with the Army.

"A lot of mistrust in the military because I feel like they failed our kids," Ricky DeLeon said.

Ricky's son, 19-year-old Issac DeLeon, died on June 2, 2016 when his light medium tactical vehicle was washed away by a flash flood in Owl Creek on post. Six other Fort Hood soldiers also died along with a West Point cadet. Miguel ColonVazquez is one of the six soldier-victims, and was the leader of the training mission that ended up in the rushing water.

"I just waited for him to come home, and he never came," his wife Ngo Pham ColonVazquez said through tears talking about the night her husband and the others went missing in the flood.

The DeLeons and the ColonVazquezes met for the first time Thursday, the anniversary of the incident. They had a barbecue and then went to the site where search teams found their loved ones' flooded vehicles to lay flowers as a memorial.

But their meeting could very well have been a tense one. The Army released an 830 page report on the incident to the families of the victims. News Channel 25 was also able to obtain a copy. It places a large portion of the blame for the washout on ColonVazquez. Neither family agrees with that assessment.

"They always want to blame someone," Colonvazquez's brother Alex Colon said. "They're trying to blame my brother for the incident."

Ricky DeLeon blames officers of higher rank than Colonvazquez for the incident, saying they are the ones who shouldn't have allowed the training exercise to happen in dangerous weather conditions.

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