Texas Republican gubernatorial candidate Don Huffines recently offered his condolences to the loved ones of a soldier that died at the southern border.
A Texas National Guard soldier assigned to Operation Lone Star was accidentally killed earlier this week, according to the Army Times. The soldier was sitting in the front seat of a parked car and handed his handgun to the soldier sitting behind him. As the gun was changing hands it accidentally fired, discharging a round through the front seat.
“Mary Catherine and I offer our deepest condolences to the family of this young soldier,” Huffines said. “Loss of life in the line of duty is a tragedy deserving our highest honors. Texas must complete the mission at the border so that our troops can return home to their families.”
This was not the first time a soldier has died on the job during Operation Lone Star. According to a December 2021 Army Times report, four Texas National Guard members serving on border patrol in Gov. Greg Abbott’s “Operation Lone Star” have committed suicide, citing “the mission’s conditions and purpose, as well as the way it’s organized and manned through indefinite involuntary call-ups.”
“The [Texas Military Department]’s leadership has lost focus on what matters most, and that’s the soldier,” one officer said. “Their inability to focus on the individual soldiers’ needs has cost several lives, and until they [focus], more tragedies will continue to happen.”
During the week between Christmas and New Year's Day, a Texas National Guard soldier working on Operation Lone Star survived a suicide attempt, according to the Army Times.
Several days later, another soldier was drinking and accidentally shot and killed himself.
Some who have supported the idea of Operation Lone Star are now criticizing Abbott's handling of the mission. Retired Command Sergeant Major Jason Featherston told the Chronicles, "Do I think we should have soldiers on the border? Absolutely. But what’s gone wrong with this is that it was hastily done and poorly planned.”
Elected in 2014, Gov. Greg Abbott is currently serving as the 48th governor of Texas. Before being elected governor, Abbott was the longest-serving Attorney General of Texas.
Huffines will face Abbott in the gubernatorial primary on March 1. From 2015 to 2019, he represented Texas' 16th State Senate District. Huffines is the CEO of Huffines Communities, a Dallas/Fort Worth-based real estate development firm.
