ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – Two U.S. soldiers are recovering after a bear attacked them during a training exercise near a military installation in Anchorage, Alaska. For one St. Augustine family, the news is ripping open a wound that never fully healed.
Their son, Army soldier Seth Plant, was killed by a bear at the same base — Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, known as JBER — nearly four years ago. His family said the military had made promises to change. Now, they’re asking why another attack happened at all.
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Seth Plant was 30 years old when he died in May 2022 during a military training exercise in the Alaska wilderness. He was the only son in his family, described by his mother, Joy Plant, as their “favorite child.”
“He would tell you he is our favorite child,” Joy said. “Everybody loves Seth. He was very outgoing. He just loved life.”
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His sister, Amber Call, remembered exactly where she was when she got the news. The family had actually been talking about bears the night before.
“When we heard he was attacked by a bear initially, you don’t know what to think because we had just talked about it the night before,” Amber said. “I thought it was a cruel joke. I really thought it was a cruel joke.”
It wasn’t. Amber later posted a doorbell camera video showing officers arriving at her door to deliver the devastating news that Seth had died from his injuries.
According to the family, Seth and another soldier were on a training exercise when they came over a hill and encountered a bear.
“They were going over the hill, and that’s when they saw the bear. It charged,” Amber said. “It was a mama bear and cubs with it, and they attacked Seth and attacked the other soldier with Seth, but he survived his injuries.”
Seth did not.
The Plant family said Seth was not issued bear spray before heading into the Alaska wilderness that day. They believed that the military had since changed that practice — but they want more.
Their requests were specific:
- Move training schedules away from spring months, when hungry bears are emerging from hibernation
- Provide wildlife safety training to soldiers who are new to Alaska
- Establish formal laws and policies that protect soldiers stationed in bear country
“There needs to be laws changed, policies put in place so that it protects the future of the soldiers that are going to be stationed there,” Call said.
“Do better. Do better,” Joy said.
News4JAX reached out to officials at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. While base officials confirmed the two most recently injured soldiers have been discharged from the hospital, they did not disclose what — if any — safety protocols changed following Seth’s death in 2022.
In the four years since Seth’s death, his family has channeled their grief into action. They founded “Say When and Remember Him,” a nonprofit in his honor. The foundation has raised $60,000 and awarded scholarships to 11 young people pursuing careers in the trades industry.
The family said they are grateful for the chance to help others — but every day, they miss the son, brother, and uncle who was, in their words, full of life and full of love.