Cybertruck bomber Matthew Livelsberger was dubbed ‘the Candy Man’ by Afghan kids during his tour there

The veteran who blew up a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas was affectionately called the “Candy Man” by local children to whom he delivered toys while serving in Afghanistan.

Special forces soldier Matthew Livelsberger, 37, shot himself in the head seconds before an improvised explosive device detonated in the back of his rented truck on New Year’s Day.

Sixteen years earlier, Master Sgt. Livelsberger arranged for 200 stuffed animals, 100 notebooks and 50 sets of crayons and pencils to be shipped from his native Ohio to Afghanistan, promising to his hometown newspaper that he would deliver them himself.

“I promise you it will be in the hands of a child in need who would not otherwise receive it,” Livelsberger wrote in an email to The Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum. ‘The Afghan children are adventurous and playful, just like our children.’

Fardin Fetwat, the interpreter at Livelsberger’s unit in Afghanistan, told the story Daily beast who ‘call’ local children[ed] him Candy Man’ for his good deeds.

“He gave it so the children would be happy,” Fetwat told the outlet. “He loves the kids and the kids love him.”

Livelsberger served in the Green Berets, highly trained special forces that work to counter terrorism abroad and train partners, the military said in a statement.

He served in the Army since 2006 and rose through the ranks with a long career of overseas assignments. He was deployed twice to Afghanistan and served in Ukraine, Tajikistan, Georgia and Congo, the military said.

Livelsberger received two Bronze Stars, including one with a courage device for bravery under fire, a combat infantry badge and an Army Commendation Medal with valor. According to the statement, Livelsberger was on approved leave when he died.

Fetwat recalled moving stories about Livelsberger’s work during a 2009 tour of Afghanistan.

The translator said the soldier “saved his life” by shooting a “bad guy” who had pointed his gun at him. Livelsberger told Fetwat to stay behind him.

Fetwat told the outlet how Livelsberger promised to teach him how to write in English, buying him a computer to study on with his own money.

Between missions he sat with Fetwat and taught him to read and write.

He also went out twice a week to cheer up the Afghan people – adults and children.

On one occasion, the soldier found an injured dog and nursed him back to health before trying to find him a home when he couldn’t bring him back to the U.S., Fetwat fondly recalled.

When Fetwat obtained a visa to move to the U.S. with his family, he said Livelsberger made the effort to meet him, his wife and two young children at the Denver airport.

He took care of the family, booked them a hotel and fed them, even though they had “no one, no connection with anyone.”

Fetwat said the soldier continued to provide assistance in navigating the U.S. bureaucracy.

He said he last saw Livelsberger in 2017, noting that he seemed to be having problems in his personal life at the time, leading to a divorce.

Alicia Arritt, an ex-girlfriend he started dating a year later, previously said Livelsberger showed signs of PTSD as early as 2018.

The couple met on a dating app after Livelsberger divorced his first wife and dated for three years before remarried.

“He described the same symptoms as in a textbook,” she told 11 News, revealing that she had seen PTSD in veterans in her role as an Army nurse.

‘In 2020 he had paranoia and nightmares. He was exhausted and depressed. He gained weight and could no longer think.’

There are opportunities to get help within the military, but Arritt said there is still a lot of stigma attached to mental health issues, especially in the high-level unit that Livelsberger was a part of.

‘If he was diagnosed with depression or a traumatic brain injury, he would not be employable and he certainly did not want that. He wanted to be there for his guys,” Arritt said.

Livelsberger was an active duty special forces soldier at the time of the Cybertruck explosion.

He had contacted Arritt in the days before his death to show off the rental vehicle, joking that he felt like Batman.

Seven people in the area were slightly injured when the Tesla truck exploded on New Year’s Day.

Video showed a flood of charred fireworks mortars, jerry cans and other explosives stuffed into the back of the pickup.

The walls of the truck bed were still intact because the explosion shot straight up instead of to the sides.

Notes recorded on Livelsberger’s phone and recovered by police made it clear that his motive was not terrorism or violence, just to draw attention to his manifesto.