A soldier who was seriously injured under unknown conditions this summer during the Pentagon’s temporary Gaza pier mission has died, the Army confirmed.
Sgt. Quandarius Davon Stanley, 23, passed away Oct. 31, according to an online obituary. The Army confirmed to Military.com that Stanley was the soldier injured during the humanitarian aid mission, adding that he had been “receiving treatment in [a] long-term care medical center.”
The circumstances of Stanley’s injury as well as its severity have been shrouded in secrecy ever since military officials confirmed foreign reports that three service members were injured on the pier mission in late May. This trend continued through his death, which was not publicly announced by the Army.
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“Sgt. Quandarius Stanley was an instrumental and well-respected, first-line leader in the 7th Transportation Brigade Expeditionary (TBX), especially during the mission to provide humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza,” the unit’s commander, Col. John Gray, said in an emailed statement to Military.com.
“We will continue to provide support to his family during this difficult time,” Gray said, adding that the “entire unit mourns alongside his family.”
CNN was the first outlet to report Stanley’s death.
The humanitarian mission utilized the Army’s Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore, or JLOTS, system to build a small pier connected to the Gaza shore to get food and aid into the war-torn region between May and August.
President Joe Biden announced the plan in his State of the Union address this spring, and the mission became a high-profile effort to try to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people amid continued Israeli operations in the area.
However, the mission quickly became mired in political controversy, with critics arguing the effort was either just a publicity stunt or not nearly sufficient to deal with the need in the region. Embarrassing breakdowns, halts in operations, and a spotlight on the underfunded Army watercraft community didn’t help.
Reports that Stanley had been injured first broke in Israeli news outlets and, after reporters asked about them at a briefing, the deputy commander of U.S. Central Command, Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, confirmed that “one individual is undergoing care at an Israeli local hospital who was injured out on a ship at sea.”
Stanley’s name was not released at the time. Cooper, when pressed for more details by reporters, just added that the soldier had been taken to a local hospital and promised that he would be “happy to follow up” on request for more details.
However, USNI news, citing two defense officials, reported that Stanley had actually been critically injured while working on a staging platform two miles off the coast of Gaza, where trucks filled with aid packages were being driven from cargo ships onto landing craft.
According to information provided by the Army, Stanley joined the service in July 2020 as a motor transport operator and had earned the Driver and Mechanic Badge.
To this day, neither U.S. Central Command nor the Army has said how Stanley was injured.
In another briefing, held less than two months later in July, Cooper said that Stanley — still unidentified — had been transferred to a hospital in San Antonio but that “he’s no longer in critical condition.”
“But any more details — I think — talking about that would be inappropriate,” Cooper said.
However, court records found in Bexar County, where San Antonio is located, suggest Stanley’s medical condition was far more complicated than Cooper let on.
On Aug. 13, less than a month after Cooper told reporters that the Army sergeant was no longer in critical condition, someone filed a court case to establish a guardianship on behalf of “Quandarius Davon Stanley, an incapacitated person.”
A guardianship request suggests that someone close to Stanley had concerns over his ability to make medical decisions for himself. However, according to court records, the guardianship was never granted. The case was dismissed following his death.
The Army said Stanley was retired from the service on Oct. 25. He died less than a week later.
Military.com reached out to Stanley’s mother for more details but did not hear back in time for publication. Stanley’s obituary offers no indication of how he died.
Military.com also asked the Army why it didn’t publicly announce Stanley’s death or his retirement, given that he was the single major casualty in an incredibly high-profile mission ordered by the president during a State of the Union address, but did not hear back in time for publication.
According to the service, Stanley’s awards included the Army Achievement Medal, the Army Good Conduct Medal, and the Noncommissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon, as well as a variety of service awards.
Meanwhile, both the JLOTS system and the entire Gaza mission are under investigation.
Related: Army’s Pier System Now Faces Second Watchdog Review After Troubled Gaza Mission