Soldiers salute the late Sgt. 1st Class Gregory Eugene Giger during a memorial service at Fort Hood on June 26. Giger was found dead in his Killeen apartment 11 days earlier, and the case remains under investigation. Courtesy Photo CHANDLER — Six weeks after their son was discovered dead in his apartment near Fort Hood, Gene and Helen Giger still don’t what happened to him, the U.S. Army has provided few details, and rumors offer no comfort.

Atop a mantel in their living room is a framed photo of Gregory Eugene Giger in uniform. Used in a memorial service in June for the 42-year-old sergeant with the III Corps, it’s a constant reminder they may never know how the father of three died.

On a nearby coffee table is a folded American flag, along with Greg’s stripes and medals, some of which Helen and Gene were unaware had even been awarded before his death.

“We have so little information,” Gene said. “We don’t know what’s going on. The military is the military. They’ve been so nice to us, but we’ve got almost nothing.”

On June 15, Greg’s body was found after he failed to report for roll call that morning. Although an Army official was sent to find Greg, it is not known whether she, police, paramedics, or someone else was first to reach him.

Gene and Helen said they can’t speculate on what happened to him because they don’t have enough information to even do that.

“There are so many things we’re never going to know, and we’re starting to accept that,” Gene said. “We don’t have any specific information, other than what we’ve gotten from the papers. It’s very unsettling.”

An Army casualty assistance officer has communicated regularly with the Gigers, they said, and they’ve answered questions from officials with the Army’s Criminal Investigation Command.

Otherwise, they must wait for a response from Alexandria, Va., after filing a Freedom of Information Act request seeking information on Greg’s death.

“Some of this, no doubt, is classified,” Gene said. “We haven’t even seen the autopsy report. Over the last few days, I have calmed down and started getting back to my life. No matter what we find out, Greg isn’t coming back.”

When he died, Greg had been divorced from Yolanda Giger for two to three months, his father said.

He left behind two sons, Trevor Giger, 20, and Gregory E. Giger II, 14, and daughter, Dominique Giger, 15. They live in Austin.

“They’ve been through some real tough times,” Gene said. “I finally told Yolanda she just needed to let him go.”

He said they all agreed to split Greg’s ashes, scattering some in the Colorodo Rockies and the rest at Chandler Memorial Cemetery in a columnbarium.

“His daughter told us that she and Greg often talked about scattering his ashes in the Rockies,” Gene said. “I’m not sure why he wanted that, other than we went there when he was 12 and it was good times.”

Greg would have marked 24 years with the Army on Thursday. He celebrated his 42nd birthday on June 13.

“The next morning, I had an e-mail from him that said, ‘How ya’ll doing? Just dropped the kids off. Love ya.’ And that was Greg. He was short on words.”

The sergeant first class joined the Army when he was 18. He served three tours in Iraq, and in Germany and Korea. He was a human resources officer when he died.

Among his decorations are 12 medals or commendations, including the Bronze Star Medal.

“He loved the military,” Gene said. “Yolanda told him she wanted him to stay home because she wanted a full-time husband. He told her he didn’t want to leave the Army, that it was his life.”

U.S. Army officials could not immediately be reached.