A 21-year-old U.S. soldier assigned to the 2nd Cavalry Regiment died in a car crash near Vilseck, Germany, on Aug. 5, 2025, after striking a tree, Army officials said. (Westpfalz Police)

Updated Aug. 8, 2025, 2 p.m. CET

GRAFENWOEHR, Germany — A U.S. soldier was killed Tuesday night after his car crashed into a tree on a forested state road between Vilseck and Freihung.

Spc. Demarcus Lee, 21, was driving at about 8:25 p.m. at a high rate of speed when his Ford Fusion veered off the road, Auerbach police said Friday in a statement. The car immediately caught fire after striking the tree, police said.

The speed limit on that road where the crash occurred is 62 mph. The road was blocked for several hours after the crash.

Freihung is about 7 miles from the U.S. base at Vilseck, where Lee was a mortarman assigned to the 2nd Cavalry Regiment.

Lee joined the Army in February 2023 and reported to Germany in August of that year, V Corps spokesman Lt. Col. Cain Claxton said in a statement Friday. Lee earned two Army Achievement Medals and the Expert Infantry Badge during his short career.

“V Corps and 2nd Cavalry Regiment leaders extend their deepest condolences to the family and friends of the deceased,” Claxton said.