06/06/2026
Two years ago I sat down with six other people to finally go over the Line of Duty report. It was a physically and emotionally depleting day for me. It felt like reliving the morning of SPC Joey Lenz's funeral over and over again.
I prepared my questions and was professionally prepared to defend my son in front of 3 officers from Fort Hood and three people on the opposite side of the table (in my defense) including my attorney, Kelly Waterman (Ted Cruz's Houston Regional Director) and Jeff. This was the long overdue meeting in person to go over the Line of Duty Reports (LOD).
Department of Defense requires the Army to provide an in person meeting within a year of an active duty death to the survivors. They pushed me aside and would not even provide me the reports until I mandated it obnoxiously. I received the incomplete reports two years and 4 months after Joey's death.
⭐️Points I drove deeply⭐️
•Joey trusted his leadership. They failed him.
•The medical team at Fort Hood failed him. No one ever told him he had a heart condition.
•30 soldiers shared with me for 3 hours about their concern for Joey and his mental depression from his toxic command of the company. It was ignored by their leadership.
•Kratom is not an illicit drug. It alone did not cause Joey's death and make his heart 3x normal size overnight. Perhaps the prescription drugs he was given that cause serotonin syndrome and should never be given to a heart patient did.
While the Army sat in from of six photos I laid across the table in front of them I spoke.
The Army did tell me they have already changed a few protocols at "Fort Hood” since his death. It's about Doing Better to protect our military as they protect us.
I said I would get accountability for Joey's death at his funeral. I'm getting closer to making that happen. It’s a long process.