First Lt. Hailey Hodsden, a platoon leader with the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, was fatally injured Aug. 1, 2023, when a semitruck collided with her Stryker on a highway near Tirschenreuth, Germany. (U.S. Army)
KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — The U.S. Army identified the soldier who was killed when a semitruck collided with her armored Stryker vehicle on a highway in Bavaria earlier this week.
Army officials on Thursday said 1st Lt. Hailey Hodsden, a platoon leader with the 2nd Cavalry Regiment’s 4th Squadron, was killed Tuesday in the crash near the village of Tirschenreuth.
The 24-year-old Dripping Springs, Texas, native was traveling in the Stryker when it merged onto northbound Autobahn 93 about 11:15 a.m. Tuesday.
A semitruck traveling in the right lane collided with the Stryker, Weiden highway police said. Preliminary findings indicated that Hodsden was looking out from an open hatch when the collision occurred.
The hatch struck and injured Hodsden, who was later pronounced dead at a local hospital, police said.
The accident happened about 40 minutes north of Grafenwoehr Training Area, the Army's largest permanent training area in Europe.
Army 1st Lt. Hailey Hodsden, seen as a cadet in an undated file photo, played on West Point’s rugby team from 2017 to 2021. Hodsden was killed Aug. 1, 2023, when a Stryker armored vehicle in which she was traveling collided with a semitruck near Tirschenreuth, Germany. (U.S. Military Academy)
Hodsden graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where she played on the rugby team. She commissioned as an armor officer and had been serving in the 2nd Cavalry Regiment for just over a year, a U.S. Army Europe and Africa statement said.
“Hailey was an exceptional leader,” Lt. Col. Joseph Byerly, 4th Squadron commander, said in the statement. “As the Saber family mourns her loss, we are reminded of the courage and commitment that she displayed each day. She was a true example for others to emulate.”
The accident was the second tactical vehicle crash involving Army troops in Bavaria during training in less than a week. On Thursday, eight soldiers were injured in a military transport rollover near Vilseck.
Those follow a nonfatal crash of an armored vehicle in Amberg in April.
An investigation by Army and German authorities is ongoing.
No other soldiers traveling in the Stryker were injured during the collision, the Army and German officials said.
The accident marks the third motor vehicle-related death of a U.S. soldier in the German state this year.
Stars and Stripes reporter Michael Slavin contributed to this report.
