PFC Winchell was dating a trans woman, Calpernia Adams, and was beaten to death by two members of his own unit for being gay.
This happened in the early morning hours of 5 July 1999. 25 years ago.
Barry Winchell was 21, he was assigned to Fort Campbell KY to the 101 Airborne Division.
After visiting a gay bar in Nashville with his friends, he started dating Calpernia Adams, a trans woman that was ex Navy. It soon started to get around the base that he was gay. That was a no-no under “don’t ask, don’t tell, don’t pursue”, that was the law of the land back then.
On July 3 1999, another soldier, 18 year old Calvin Glover, who had been drinking got in a fight with Winchell. Winchell decidedly won the fight. Late on the night of 4 July,Winchell’s roommate, Justin Fischer, was egging Glover on about loosing a fight to his gay roommate. At about 2 AM on 5 July, 1999 Glover took a baseball bat and severely beat Winchell with it, killing him.
In the aftermath, Fischer was sentenced to 12.5 years, and Glover to life at the US Army Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, KS, both with reduction in rank to Private, Forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and Dishonorable Discharge. Fischer was released in October 2006, and Glover transferred to a civilian prison and was paroled in August 2020.
The Showtime cable channel made a movie about the incident named “Soldiers Girl”