Delta's Fallen Operator

To his sister, Billy Lavigne was a protector—until war and Delta Force left him broken.

Army Master Sergeant William Lavigne II

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Updated

When Cassandra Lavigne talks about her brother Billy, a Delta Force operator killed in a shooting on Fort Bragg, the first thing she wants you to know is that he was not a monster.

“He was a really good-hearted person,” she says. “He’d go above and beyond for anyone.” In his 19 and a half years in uniform, Lavigne was “first in, last out” on deployments. He joined Delta to make the world better, she says, to stop the abuse and violence he saw everywhere. “He wanted to be the good guy,” Cassandra says.

At the same time, 37-year-old Master Sergeant William Lavigne II was deeply damaged by war. Cassandra believes her once-unshakeable brother suffered from PTSD and moral injury. Sh…