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Upstate Soldier, USC Graduate Dies on North Carolina Military Base

A 25-year-old USC graduate serving at Fort Bragg was found dead Monday in his barracks.
Credit: Provided
The Army is investigating the death of adam Lorenzen. Lorenzen, pictured with his mother, Helen Lorenzen, died this week at Fort Bragg.

A 25-year-old Greenville man serving at Fort Bragg was found dead Monday in his barracks.

The death of Specialist Adam Kenneth Lorenzen is being investigated. He was a student enrolled in the Special Forces Qualification Course at the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, according to a press release from the school in North Carolina.

Lorenzen, known to his family as "Goge" and to his friends as "Poppa Bean," attended St. Mary's Catholic School and was a graduate of Greenville High School and the University of South Carolina, according to his obituary. In Greenville, Lorenzen had been a member of Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Church, the obituary said.

“He loved his family, loved his friends, and the Gamecocks,” his mother, Helen Lorenzen, said.

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A lover of anything athletic, Adam Lorenzen majored in exercise science at South Carolina, Helen Lorenzen said. He was an all-American lacrosse player at Greenville High and also played linebacker for the football team. He enjoyed waterskiing, hockey, and other sports, she said.

Credit: MYKAL MCELDOWNEY
This photo was taken of Adam Lorenzen in 2008 when he played football for Greenville High School. He was found dead in his barracks at Fort Bragg this week.

Adam Lorenzen posed for the body of Charles Pate Jr.'s downtown Greenville sculpture of a man chiseling himself out of a tree, she said. The sculpture, titled "Regenesis," stands in front of the Nachman Norwood & Parrott firm.

Helen Lorenzen said her son had a presence that would light up a room because of his infectious smile, his outgoing personality and his humor.

At 6-foot-2 and 195 pounds, he was a force to be reckoned with and the definition of a special force soldier.

“They call special forces soldiers the quiet professionals,” she said. “He was quiet in that he had a humble spirit."

According to the military release, Lorenzen enlisted in the U.S. Army in August 2016 on an 18 X-Ray Contract to attend Special Forces Training.

He was a student in the Special Forces Medical Course, which is the military occupational specialty phase of the Special Forces Qualification Course, the military release said.

He was assigned to the Special Operations Medical Training Center, Special Warfare Medical Group, U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, the release said.

His awards and decorations include the National Defense Service Medal.

Recitation of the Rosary will be at 4 p.m. on May 12 at Thomas McAfee Funeral Home. The funeral Mass will be at 10 a.m. May 14 at Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Church.

Memorials may be made to Green Beret Foundation, 14402 Blanco Road, Suite 101, San Antonio, TX 78216.

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