SAN ANTONIO – COVID-19 claimed the life of a U.S. Army servicemember at a San Antonio hospital earlier this month, according to Army officials.
Lt. Col. Scott Flanders, who served in Washington at Joint Base Lewis-McChord as an operations officer, died of COVID-19 complications on Aug. 2 at the Brooke Army Medical Center, the Army confirms.
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His death marks the 29th COVID-19 related death among the U.S. military as of yet.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with Lt. Col. Scott Flanders’s family,” Brig. Gen. William A. Ryan, special assistant to the deputy commanding general at I Corps, said in a news release. “Our priority is to take care of his family, ensuring they have all the resources they need during this difficult time.”
Lt. Col. Flanders, 56, trained as an Air Defense Artillery officer in May 1994 and serviced in I Corps at JBLM since Feb. 2021 as an operations officer, Army officials said. He was also deployed twice to Afghanistan.
He is the fourth active-duty and highest-ranking soldier that has succumbed to the virus, according to The Army Times.
The Department of Defense’s findings shows as of Friday, Aug. 13, that there have been nearly 218,000 cases of COVID-19 among military servicemembers.
More than 1,900 servicemembers have been hospitalized, and over 208,000 have recovered, according to the DOD.
During his time of service, Lt. Col. Sanders received the Joint Service Command Medal, four Army Commendation Medals, including with combat device, the Joint Meritorious Unit Award, the Korea Defense Service Medal and the NATO medal, according to Army officials.