--- title: 'A Veterans Day Review: Led by Florida, the Country is on Pace to Execute 11 Veterans in 2026, Exceeding Last Year’s Total—While Historic California Clemency Grant Spares 50 Veterans' description: 'An Army private introduced to heroin in Vietnam, who became addicted after a close friend died in his arms. A 21-year Air Force Master Sergeant who…' canonical: 'https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/a-veterans-day-review-led-by-florida-the-country-is-on-pace-to-execute-11-veterans-in-2026-exceeding-last-years-total-while-historic-california-clemency-grant-spares-50-veterans' section: news date: '2026-11-11T09:00:00-05:00' updated: '2026-11-11T10:27:36-05:00' source: 'Death Penalty Information Center' --- An Army private introduced to heroin in Vietnam, who became addicted after a close friend died in his arms. A 21-year Air Force Master Sergeant who oversaw 5000 troops and their families. A Marine who led search and rescue missions for prisoners of war in the Philippines. An elite sniper who took a bullet to the brain and won a Purple Heart in Iraq. These are some of the military veterans who faced the law’s harshest punishment this year. Many of their juries never learned about the true nature of their service or sacrifices. [ ![Forgotten Service, Lasting Wounds](https://cdn.craft.cloud/c08a8cf8-1de1-4da0-8525-321ca2c16992/assets/images/VRTTDintro.png?fit=contain&gravity%5Bx%5D=0.4918&gravity%5By%5D=0.3258&width=320&s=KqnLhoOUnbDwvodSxcab2H8v3Wx9owgN8iX08ylAaRI) ](https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/research/analysis/reports/in-depth/forgotten-service-lasting-wounds) In 2025, the Death Penalty Information Center (DPI) released a [groundbreaking report](https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/research/analysis/reports/in-depth/forgotten-service-lasting-wounds) that included the first-known comprehensive list of military veterans sentenced to death in the modern era. This Veterans Day, DPI has incorporated veteran status into its [Execution Database](https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/facts-and-research/data/executions) as a searchable feature,[1](#fn-1) to increase understanding about the veterans who have been put to death after serving their country. Even as awareness of the [“battlefield-to-prison” pipeline](https://counciloncj.org/from-service-to-sentencing-unraveling-risk-factors-for-criminal-justice-involvement-among-u-s-veterans/) grows, and new death sentences and public support for the death penalty decline, some state officials choose to schedule the executions of military veterans even over the objections of many veterans groups. Eight veterans have been executed and three more are scheduled to die before the end of this year—exceeding last year’s total of ten. And military veterans remain overrepresented among those sentenced to die: they account for only 6% of the public, yet comprise about 10% of death row[2](#fn-2) and 14% of those executed in the modern era. Since 1976, America has executed at least 237 people who once served in its Armed Forces and will reach 240 veteran executions before the year is out. ![Line chart of executions and death sentences of military veterans by year since 1972, showing death sentences peak at 47 in 1986 and 1993 before declining to <5 per year by 2015. Executions have varied between 0 and 15 per year, peaking at 15 in 2002.](https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/ZNzpr/full.png) ### The “Final Abandonment”: Executed Military Veterans On October 20, the sound of Taps rang out against the setting sun at Florida State Prison. [William Reaves](https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/william-reaves-vietnam-veteran-whose-jury-did-not-learn-critical-mitigation-evidence-about-his-service-related-injury-is-set-for-execution-in-florida) had just died by lethal injection, age 77, following [pleas from fellow veterans](https://www.fadp.org/veterans-urge-desantis-to-stop-execution-of-william-reaves-whose-jury-never-heard-full-evidence-of-combat-trauma/) to spare his life. Mr. Reaves became the 14th military veteran executed by order of Governor Ron DeSantis, himself a former Naval officer. Twelve veterans have been put to death in the past 19 months as part of Gov. DeSantis’ record-breaking execution spree, and another, Thomas Overton, is scheduled to die one week after Veterans Day. Florida accounts for six of the 11 completed and scheduled executions of veterans this year. ![A black and white photo of a bald Black man with a white beard, wearing a smock shirt over a t-shirt.](https://cdn.craft.cloud/c08a8cf8-1de1-4da0-8525-321ca2c16992/assets/images/636456363138546314-REAVES.png?fit=contain&width=255&s=iqVu7d1GkP-5wKkA7CP2fMTWROgYa80SjeLCeCOoZSY) William Reaves Mr. Reaves was only twenty when he volunteered to transfer from his Panama assignment to the heart of Vietnam combat. His community in his small Florida town thought he might one day become a pastor. Yet what he saw in the jungle would irrevocably change his path. He and his fellow Army privates were assigned “search and destroy” missions; often they would only learn a sniper was present when the “person in front of them got shot.” On one patrol, a bullet ripped through a close friend’s stomach, his organs spilling out. Disobeying a direct order, Mr. Reaves jumped on the helicopter and held his friend as he died. According to Mr. Reaves’ former lawyer [Chance Meyer](https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2026/10/florida-execution-death-penalty-william-reaves-desantis.html), older soldiers he admired “trained him to use heroin and opium-laced marijuana to numb the unrelenting terror.” Mr. Reaves returned home with an honorable discharge, prestigious service medals—and a debilitating addiction. He turned to street drugs when the Veterans’ Administration (VA) could not ease his constant hypervigilance and paranoia. From there, his life spiraled out of control until he shot and killed a police officer while high on cocaine in 1986. A witness said he turned and ran in a zigzag pattern toward the tree line. “Alone in the dark with no one around, his mind was in the jungle, and his body was doing what it had been trained to do when faced with the enemy,” his lawyer wrote. Yet Mr. Reaves’ first-time capital defense attorney failed to properly explain his military service to the jury, and prosecutors disparaged it. The jury never knew that Mr. Reaves was 100% disabled due to PTSD, as the VA later determined. They were told by a state expert that Mr. Reaves’ medals for courage were “automatically” given to soldiers and that his discharge was only honorable because the war was “winding down,” and heard from a Vietnam platoon leader who claimed to be “unaware of anyone in his years of military experience suffering from PTSD.” Mr. Reaves came close to avoiding execution in 2016. A federal judge vacated his death sentence, finding that his attorney had been constitutionally ineffective for failing to discover and present evidence of his PTSD, and for failing to object to the “outrageous testimony” presented by the state. The judge found the state’s tactics “utterly intolerable” and “simply disgraceful.” “I am amazed that this happened in an American courtroom,” he wrote. “If support for our troops is anything more than an empty slogan on a license plate, this should not be allowed to stand.” But a federal appeals court reinstated Mr. Reaves’ death sentence on procedural grounds. > As veterans, we know that service carries obligations in both directions. We ask service members to risk their lives for this country; in return, our country assumes a solemn duty not to abandon them when they come home carrying wounds we cannot see. Mr. Reaves served when his country called, and volunteered to go farther than his country had asked. When he returned wounded by that service, he did not receive the help he needed. Florida should not make that failure final by executing him now. > > > > [Letter from One Hundred Veterans to Gov. DeSantis, Oct. 19, 2026](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OZzeURkLzLoYiInIfUoW4ACEa9pyO7v-/view) Mr. Reaves would have been spared in nearly every other state because two of his jurors voted for a life sentence, even with limited knowledge of his military service. Five of the veterans executed or scheduled in Florida this year were sentenced to death by non-unanimous juries, each with at least two dissenting votes.[3](#fn-3) All other death penalty states besides Alabama require unanimous agreement for death. Dusty Ray Spencer, a Marine Corps veteran executed June 25, was sentenced to death by a vote of 7-5—a decision that would result in a life sentence in every state today. Mr. Spencer joined the Marines to escape sexual abuse by his father. He conducted search and rescue missions in the Philippines for prisoners of war during the Vietnam era, rising to the rank of Lance Corporal. According to [Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (FADP)](https://www.fadp.org/statement-on-the-execution-of-dusty-ray-spencer/), like Mr. Reaves, Mr. Spencer and his comrades “used alcohol and drugs to both celebrate their victories and numb their defeats”—a habit that proved difficult to shake on his return home. He was executed for killing his wife amidst a contentious separation. While the crime was tragic, one Florida Supreme Court justice asserted that it was “not a death penalty case,” and five jurors agreed. Mr. Spencer’s death sentence was overturned so that the trial court could reconsider the appropriate punishment, but the trial judge refused to impanel a new jury and simply resentenced Mr. Spencer to death. The judge “[assigned less weight](https://law.justia.com/cases/florida/supreme-court/1996/85119-0.html) to the mitigating factors because, despite mental and emotional impairments and chronic substance abuse, Spencer was still capable of…performing heroic acts in the military.” In this way, his courageous service was cited as a *reason* to impose a death sentence. Less than three weeks later, on July 14, Florida executed [Army paratrooper Dennis Sochor](https://www.fadp.org/florida-set-to-execute-74-year-old-united-states-army-veteran-dennis-sochor-on-tuesday-as-u-s-supreme-court-asked-to-intervene/) for the murder of a young woman who disappeared from a New Year’s Eve party. Mr. Sochor’s inexperienced defense attorney admitted he barely prepared for the penalty phase of the trial; even so, Mr. Sochor’s family members tried to explain to the jury how his military service had changed him. “\[T\]hings became worse after he was discharged from the \[A\]rmy, especially when he drank alcohol,” his mother testified, while his father described him as “completely out of control.” The Army recommended psychiatric care at discharge, but when Mr. Sochor’s parents committed him to a facility, he was released after a week as “not severe enough.” Two jurors voted for a life sentence. The Florida Supreme Court rejected his appeal, holding that although his attorney’s performance was “clearly deficient,” that failure did not prejudice Mr. Sochor—even though the court granted relief to another defendant with the same lawyer. > To execute a veteran who was broken by war and left without adequate care is not justice. It is a failure of duty. It is the final abandonment. > > > > [Letter from 165 Veterans to Gov. DeSantis, Aug. 13, 2025](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1R6dh_gB_aywf72uKnv2uwB73iNko8SY5ax7zpG-OisU/edit?tab=t.0) DPI found in its [2025 report](https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/documents/ForgottenServiceLastingWounds.pdf) that military veterans sentenced to death often experience severe mental illness and account for nearly one-fifth of [“volunteers” for execution](https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/new-analysis-death-sentenced-prisoners-volunteer-for-execution-at-ten-times-civilian-suicide-rate).[4](#fn-4) This year [Jeremy Williams](https://eji.org/news/jeremy-williams-alabama-execution/), who served in the Air Force, became at least the 30th military veteran to volunteer. He was sentenced to death in 2024 and waived all appeals; Alabama executed him on August 13. Scholars and critics, including Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, have argued that allowing death-sentenced prisoners to waive appeals amounts to “state-administered suicide” and obscures potential constitutional violations in capital trials. Mr. Overton, scheduled for execution November 19 in Florida, also declined to exercise key rights in his case (though he is now challenging his execution and therefore [not classified as a volunteer](https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/executions/executions-overview/execution-volunteers)). He [refused](https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/fl-supreme-court/1194245.html) to allow his attorneys to present any mitigating evidence during the sentencing phase of his trial, including details of his Army service. The scheduled December 3 execution of [Nidal Hasan](https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/nidal-hasan-may-be-executed-on-december-3-by-firing-squad-first-military-execution-in-65-years) has generated high-profile discussion about the intersection of mental health, military service, and capital punishment. Mr. Hasan, an Army psychiatrist facing imminent deployment to Afghanistan, killed 13 people and wounded 32 in a mass shooting at Fort Hood in 2009. He had served in the Army for 21 years and risen to the rank of Major, counseling soldiers with PTSD, which acquaintances and experts believed contributed to the deterioration of his mental state. He described his attack as retaliation for the military’s violence against Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was shot and paralyzed from the chest down by responders in the attack. He later represented himself in his military court-martial against the advice of counsel and waived portions of his appeals. Mr. Hasan would be the first person executed by the military in 65 years, and the first by military firing squad since the World War II era. The military dropped plans to livestream the execution after public backlash. ![A blue-toned photo of a white man with glasses and short hair posing for an official portrait while wearing a camouflage button-down shirt.](https://cdn.craft.cloud/c08a8cf8-1de1-4da0-8525-321ca2c16992/assets/images/James-Pavatt-Uniform.jpeg?fit=contain&width=320&s=iQsdXhCe_Xj_fUOgzjXMVVdCrDtcNY2aU9yOF5mDhLE) James Pavatt Tomorrow, the day after Veterans Day, Oklahoma plans to execute one of the most decorated former military service members on death row. [James Pavatt](https://okcfox.com/news/local/death-row-inmate-james-pavatt-seeks-clemency-before-oklahoma-execution) was sentenced to death for allegedly conspiring with his lover [Brenda Andrew](https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/diverse-amici-file-briefs-in-support-of-brenda-andrew-urging-u-s-supreme-court-to-intervene-in-most-recent-petition), now the only woman on the state’s death row, to kill her husband. Mr. Pavatt served 21 years in the Air Force and became a Master Sergeant. A group of about 100 veterans wrote in a [petition urging clemency](https://actionnetwork.org/forms/leaving-no-one-behind-veterans-petitioning-for-mercy-for-decorated-21-year-air-force-master-sergeant-jim-pavatt) that “while every veteran’s honorable service inures to his or her credit, Master Sergeant Pavatt’s contributions go far beyond that of the ‘average’ serviceman of his, or any other, era…he was responsible for upwards of 5000 personnel and their families, ensuring that those airmen were safe, secure and mission-ready to defend the United States and its allies from threats ranging from terrorism to North Korean aggression to full scale nuclear war.” Mr. Pavatt received numerous accolades and “was recognized as one of the best First Sergeants in the Air Force.” Among the veterans supporting clemency was a four-star general who served as Chief of Staff of the Air Force, who personally vouched for Mr. Pavatt’s “performance and dedication.” “Given Master Sergeant Pavatt’s record, we are very concerned that the jury that condemned him heard essentially nothing about his service to his country, not even his final rank,” the veterans wrote. “James Pavatt is not the worst of the worst and we are not seeking his freedom. We are asking only that you recognize the value of his service and spare his life.” The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted 3-2 against recommending clemency. Mr. Pavatt’s counsel filed a [Supreme Court petition](https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/26/26-6095/432163/20261109103307196_Cert_Petition_FINAL.pdf) on November 9 arguing that prosecutors presented knowingly false arguments at trial. ### Veterans Facing Death: Courts and Officials Wrestle with Competency and Culpability At least three military veterans were sentenced to death this year[5](#fn-5)—two in Florida—and several others are facing possible death sentences around the country in high-profile cases. These cases raise the question of whether the death penalty may be applied to certain military veterans, given today’s greater understanding of how trauma, mental illness, and brain injury may make a person less legally competent or culpable. On October 14, [Otto Lenke](https://fladeathpenalty.substack.com/p/st-lucie-county-otto-lenke-sentenced) was sentenced to death in Florida based on an 11-1 jury vote. Mr. Lenke had a long history of public service: he was a veteran of the Coast Guard, a police officer, a firefighter, a registered nurse, and a paramedic. Throughout these careers he suffered repeated traumas: he lost a friend and a trainee in the line of duty, treated severely injured patients, and was himself stabbed while an officer. At age 61, he killed a romantic rival. Examinations revealed pervasive brain abnormalities, including scarring, shrinkage, and lesions, leading to a diagnosis of progressive vascular dementia. He also exhibited other hallmarks of service-related mental and physical trauma, including panic attacks, depression, memory problems, and insomnia. Yet the judge assigned “little weight” to his public service, physical condition, or psychiatric diagnoses, and only “moderate weight” to his professional trauma. A North Carolina district attorney announced October 7 that he would pursue the death penalty for [Nigel Max Edge](https://www.military.com/marine-veteran-awarded-purple-heart-faces-death-penalty-north-carolina-mass-shooting-case), who allegedly killed three people and injured eight in a bar shooting last September. [Mr. Edge](https://apnews.com/article/north-carolina-bar-shooting-marine-veteran-0fd0d2cbb0a157ed7da98f7d4ec0358f) is a six-year Marine Corps veteran and Purple Heart recipient who served as an “elite sniper” during the Iraq War. He was shot four times and has a bullet lodged in his brain, according to his family. He also suffers from PTSD. In April, a judge ordered psychiatric treatment, finding that Mr. Edge was not competent to understand his legal proceedings. “We are not blind to who this defendant is. He served this country in Iraq as a Marine, suffered a traumatic brain injury, and has struggled with serious mental illness,” said Brunswick County District Attorney Jon David. “If evidence emerges bearing on Mr. Edge’s sanity at the time of the offense, we will reassess. If he is never restored to capacity, the death penalty would not be a lawful sentence and would be removed from consideration.” ![A large elderly white man with thinning, close-cropped white hair, giving a soft smile, wearing a white t-shirt.](https://cdn.craft.cloud/c08a8cf8-1de1-4da0-8525-321ca2c16992/assets/images/Eric-Reid_2026-11-11-040307_mqhd.png?fit=contain&width=320&s=nEAs-qLJrVigGIVw0EGhxNp-gp-B51CBDofr6hAIAFY) Eric Reid On October 26, Eric Reid was [resentenced](https://katv.com/news/local/hot-springs-man-sentenced-for-killing-wife-daughter-sentenced-to-life-after-agreement) to life in prison in Arkansas following negotiations with state officials to vacate his death sentence, which was imposed in 2018 for the shooting deaths of his wife and adult daughter during an argument. An Arkansas Supreme Court judge noted his military service in [a 2019 dissent](https://law.justia.com/cases/arkansas/supreme-court/2019/cr-18-517.html), as well as the fact that he turned himself in immediately, writing, “it is obvious that Mr. Reid is not the worst of the worst offenders.” Upon his resentencing, his attorney Lee Short issued a statement that credited several defense team members with “work\[ing\] tirelessly to reveal the history of Eric Reid’s life.” “In the end, his admirable twenty years of service in the U.S. Navy, selfless work as a foster parent, and consistent, positive community participation, despite a difficult childhood, came to light,” Mr. Short said. He praised the “integrity” of the prosecutors’ office “to recognize Eric Reid’s sentence did not fit with the new evidence they were provided.” Evidence continues to grow that military service members face risks of traumatic brain injury (TBI) across all branches and many specializations, which causes symptoms that are sometimes overlooked or improperly conflated with PTSD. Such injuries can make it harder for veterans to self-regulate and reintegrate into society after discharge, increasing the risk that they will be drawn into the criminal legal system. In our 2025 report, DPI covered scientific developments recognizing cumulative TBI in long-range gunners, mechanics exposed to jets taking off, and Top-Gun pilots who accelerate at high speeds. This September, the Coast Guard [acknowledged](https://www.usmedicine.com/clinical-topics/tbi/coast-guard-acknowledges-brain-injury-risk-from-its-high-speed-craft/) the [risk of brain injury](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/30/us/coast-guard-rescue-boat-surfmen-brain-injury.html) from service on its high-speed boats among crashing waves. The same month, a [congressional report](https://www.military.com/navy-failed-protect-pilots-from-brain-injuries-new-house-report-claims) accused the Navy of failing to investigate “whether the very conditions that define naval aviation may also be causing long-term harm to the pilots who endure them,” despite “credible warnings, external reporting and internal awareness” of brain injuries. ![Death-sentenced military veterans by case status, showing the greatest portion are no longer on death row (326), followed by executed (237), active death sentence (130), died on death row (108), and grant of relief (14).](https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/f5Es1/full.png) ### At Least 50 Death-Sentenced Military Veterans Spared in Historic California Clemency Grant On November 5, Gov. Gavin Newsom commuted California’s entire death row—548 people. This [historic clemency grant](https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/news/governor-gavin-newsom-grants-largest-mass-commutation-in-u-s-history-to-death-sentenced-prisoners-in-california), the largest in American history, also represents a milestone for death-sentenced military veterans: at least 50 were spared, nearly 30% of all veterans under active death sentence nationally.[6](#fn-6) That group includes at least eight Vietnam veterans. Among them was 81-year-old Phillip Lucero. His father helped him lie about his age so he could join the Army at age 16, and he went on to serve over seven years across three tours in Vietnam. He won a Combat Infantry Badge and a Purple Heart, and rose to the rank of Sergeant.  But in a familiar story, he struggled to readjust to civilian life, haunted by what he’d seen. He could not shake the memories of “retriev\[ing\] rotting corpses from the battlefield” and of shooting a Vietnamese man who turned out to be a friendly soldier out of uniform. He experienced survivor guilt, insomnia, flashbacks, and memory problems. He was sentenced to death for the “incomprehensible” murders of two young girls in his neighborhood, which an expert characterized as an “explosive survival outburst.” “\[T\]his defendant deserves compassion from a society that in the first instance taught him to kill,” Judge Stanley Mosk wrote in a [California Supreme Court opinion](https://law.justia.com/cases/california/supreme-court/3d/44/1006.html) vacating Mr. Lucero’s death sentence as disproportionate in 1988. However, Mr. Lucero was resentenced to death the following year and had remained on death row since. Judge Mosk wrote that Mr. Lucero “does not deserve death at the hands of the society he faithfully served.” With Gov. Newsom’s decision, he and other California veterans will no longer face execution. [Leaving No One Behind – Veterans Petitioning for Mercy for Decorated, 21-Year Air Force Master Sergeant Jim Pavatt](https://actionnetwork.org/forms/leaving-no-one-behind-veterans-petitioning-for-mercy-for-decorated-21-year-air-force-master-sergeant-jim-pavatt), Action Network, accessed Nov. 9, 2026; [Dusty Spencer Faces Execution on June 25](https://www.fadp.org/dusty-spencer-faces-execution-on-june-25/), Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, accessed Nov. 9, 2026; [Florida Set to Execute 74-Year-Old United States Army Veteran Dennis Sochor on Tuesday as U.S. Supreme Court Asked to Intervene](https://www.fadp.org/florida-set-to-execute-74-year-old-united-states-army-veteran-dennis-sochor-on-tuesday-as-u-s-supreme-court-asked-to-intervene/), Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, accessed Nov. 9, 2026; Melanie Verdecia, [St. Lucie County: Otto Lenke sentenced to death](https://fladeathpenalty.substack.com/p/st-lucie-county-otto-lenke-sentenced), Tracking Florida’s Death Penalty, Oct. 28, 2026; Thomas Farrar, [Hot Springs death row inmate signs deal swapping execution for life sentence](https://katv.com/news/local/hot-springs-man-sentenced-for-killing-wife-daughter-sentenced-to-life-after-agreement), KATV, Oct. 27, 2026; [Statement on the Execution of William Reaves](https://www.fadp.org/statement-on-the-execution-of-william-reaves/?link_id=0&can_id=e96a83ed4b0c2e5212395593b8c3fb86&source=email-william-reaves-deserves-clemency-execution-tuesday&email_referrer=email_3462595&email_subject=two-dozier-school-survivors-on-death-watch-warrant-for-thomas-overton-1119&&), Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, Oct. 20, 2026; [Veterans Urge DeSantis to Stop Execution of William Reaves, Whose Jury Never Heard Full Evidence of Combat Trauma](https://www.fadp.org/veterans-urge-desantis-to-stop-execution-of-william-reaves-whose-jury-never-heard-full-evidence-of-combat-trauma/), Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, Oct. 19, 2026; [Letter from One Hundred Veterans to Gov. DeSantis](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OZzeURkLzLoYiInIfUoW4ACEa9pyO7v-/view), Oct. 19, 2026; Kimberly Querry-Thompson, [Death row inmate James Pavatt seeks clemency before Oklahoma execution](https://okcfox.com/news/local/death-row-inmate-james-pavatt-seeks-clemency-before-oklahoma-execution), FOX25/KOKH, Oct. 13, 2026; Chance Meyer, [Florida Is About to Kill My Friend. I Hope the Executioners Read This First.](https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2026/10/florida-execution-death-penalty-william-reaves-desantis.html), Slate, Oct. 9, 2026; Katherine Plummer, [Marine Veteran Awarded Purple Heart Faces Death Penalty in Mass Shooting Case](https://www.military.com/marine-veteran-awarded-purple-heart-faces-death-penalty-north-carolina-mass-shooting-case), Military.com, Oct. 8, 2026; Leah Roemer, [Nidal Hasan May Be Executed on December 3 by Firing Squad; First Military Execution in 65 Years](https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/nidal-hasan-may-be-executed-on-december-3-by-firing-squad-first-military-execution-in-65-years), Death Penalty Information Center, Oct. 7, 2026; [State of Alabama Executes Jeremy Williams](https://eji.org/news/jeremy-williams-alabama-execution/), Equal Justice Initiative, Aug. 13, 2026; Katherine Plummer, [Navy Failed to Protect Pilots From Brain Injuries, New House Report Claims](https://www.military.com/navy-failed-protect-pilots-from-brain-injuries-new-house-report-claims), Military.com, Sept. 9, 2026; Stephen Spotswood, [Coast Guard Acknowledges Brain Injury Risk from Its High-Speed Craft](https://www.usmedicine.com/clinical-topics/tbi/coast-guard-acknowledges-brain-injury-risk-from-its-high-speed-craft/), U.S. Medicine, Sept. 9, 2026; Dave Philipps, Coast Guard Vows to Protect Crews From Brain Injuries Caused by Rough Seas, The New York Times, July 31, 2026; Dave Philipps, [Rescue Boat Crews Show Signs of Brain Injuries, but Coast Guard Isn’t Looking](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/30/us/coast-guard-rescue-boat-surfmen-brain-injury.html), The New York Times, July 30, 2026; [Statement on the Execution of Dusty Ray Spencer](https://www.fadp.org/statement-on-the-execution-of-dusty-ray-spencer/), Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, June 25, 2026; Allen G. Breed, [The former Marine sniper accused of a mass shooting and the warning signs that came before](https://apnews.com/article/north-carolina-bar-shooting-marine-veteran-0fd0d2cbb0a157ed7da98f7d4ec0358f), Associated Press, Nov. 18, 2025; Leah Roemer, [Forgotten Service, Lasting Wounds: Military Veterans and the Death Penalty](https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/research/analysis/reports/in-depth/forgotten-service-lasting-wounds), Death Penalty Information Center (2025); [Letter from 165 Veterans to Gov. DeSantis](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1R6dh_gB_aywf72uKnv2uwB73iNko8SY5ax7zpG-OisU/edit?tab=t.0), Aug. 13, 2025; Ugur Orak, [From Service to Sentencing: Unraveling Risk Factors for Criminal Justice Involvement Among U.S. Veterans](https://counciloncj.org/from-service-to-sentencing-unraveling-risk-factors-for-criminal-justice-involvement-among-u-s-veterans/), Council on Criminal Justice, Oct. 2023; [Reid v. State](https://law.justia.com/cases/arkansas/supreme-court/2019/cr-18-517.html), 2019 Ark. 363; [Spencer v. State](https://law.justia.com/cases/florida/supreme-court/1996/85119-0.html), 691 So. 2d 1062 (Fla. 1996); [People v. Lucero](https://law.justia.com/cases/california/supreme-court/3d/44/1006.html), 44 Cal. 3d 1006 (1988). Footnotes 1. Learn more about the criteria for inclusion as a military veteran in the Methodology section of our 2025 report, [Forgotten Service, Lasting Wounds: Military Veterans and the Death Penalty](https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/research/analysis/reports/in-depth/forgotten-service-lasting-wounds).  2. Approximately 130 veterans remain under active death sentence, with an additional 13 who had their sentences vacated but may still face the death penalty on retrial or resentencing. About 1400 people remain on death row nationally. 3. Florida’s executions of military veterans this year with vote split and execution date: Dusty Ray Spencer (7-5, June 25); Dennis Sochor (10-2, July 14); Daniel Conahan Jr. (12-0, September 10); Curtis Beasley (10-2, September 29); William Reaves (10-2, October 20); Thomas Overton (8-4 and 9-3, scheduled November 19).  4. This phenomenon is not limited to veterans on death row: veterans in the general public are twice as likely to die by suicide as civilians, and even more likely if they have a diagnosis of PTSD, traumatic brain injury (TBI), and/or Substance Use Disorder (SUD). See DPI’s [2025 report](https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/documents/ForgottenServiceLastingWounds.pdf), page 15, to learn more.  5. William Tulenko (Florida, sentenced March 30); Jason Jones (Nebraska, sentenced April 10); Otto Lenke (Florida, sentenced October 14). Contact Leah Roemer at lroemer@deathpenaltyinfo.org for more information about their military service.  6. About half of those are pending approval by the California Supreme Court, which reviews commutations of people with prior felony convictions to determine whether the governor’s action was an abuse of discretion.