The U.S. Army has identified the fourth U.S. service member to die from COVID-19.
Army Reserve Spc. Curtis Lamar Fort, 61, from Roanoke, Va., died on July 30 from complications related to the virus, Army Reserve spokesman Lt. Col. Simon Flake said in a statement to American Military News.
Fort, 61, from Roanoke, Virginia, died on July 30 from complications related to the virus, Army Reserve spokesman Lt. Col. Simon Flake said in a statement to American Military News.
Fort was a member of the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2-319th Cadet Summer Training Battalion, stationed in Salem, Va. He was a radio and communications repairer.
Fort’s decorations included the Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal and the Army Service Ribbon.
An obituary for Fort, provided by Serenity Funeral Home, said Fort served with the Army for 45 years as an SP4 Chemical Specialist. Fort also earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Biblical theology and preached at the JLAL Church.
Fort leaves behind a wife Kathleen Fort, eight children, and 11 grandchildren. He also leaves behind five siblings and a “host of nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.”
Fort’s funeral service will be held at Serenity Funeral Home on Friday, August 14, 2020 from 2 p.m. to -6 p.m. for viewing. He will be buried at the Williams Memorial Park.
Another Army reservist, Sgt. Simon Zamudio, 34, died of coronavirus on May 22. Prior to Zamudio’s death U.S. Navy Chief Aviation Ordnanceman Charles Robert Thacker Jr., 41, a sailor aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt died on April 13.
New Jersey National Guard Capt. Douglas Linn Hickock, 57 was the first U.S. service member to die with coronavirus.
Military.com reported, as of Wednesday, 29,415 service members and Department of Defense personnel have been diagnosed with COVID-19. 70 people have within the military and DOD have died, including 44 civilian DOD employees, 15 defense contractors and seven military dependents.
Across the U.S., about 4.9 million people have been diagnosed and about 160,000 people have died from coronavirus, according to Johns Hopkins University’s coronavirus case tracking map.
Overall the case fatality rate across the DOD is about .17 percent, as opposed to about 3.3 percent among the overall U.S. population.
