Obama Heads To Fort Hood Memorial Service
President Obama travels to Fort Hood, Texas, Tuesday to attend a memorial service for the victims of the shooting rampage that took place there last week. The massive Army post is taking time to honor those who lost their lives and were wounded, but it is still going about the business of getting soldiers ready to deploy in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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The man accused of a mass murder at Fort Hood, Texas has said one thing to investigators. He says he doesnt want to talk. Plenty of people are talking about Major Nidal Hasan, and well hear more on the investigation in a moment. President Obama will be talking, today, about those who were killed. He is attending todays memorial service at the Texas military base.
Our coverage begins there with NPRs Wade Goodwyn.
WADE GOODWYN: In just two days, the Army has erected a giant barrier in front of the post headquarters. Its made up of hundreds of railroad-car-sized containers that have been stacked three high to provide President Obama and the memorial service security and privacy. While the ceremony will be televised across the nation, General Robert Cone, the post commander, says the service will really be for the families of the wounded and killed, and the men and women who were directly affected by the shooting.
Lieutenant General ROBERT CONE (U.S. Army): The ceremony will be our traditional memorial service. And so it will be familiar and comfortable to many of our soldiers. The added benefit, of course, is the significance of having the president of the United States here, and all that that represents in terms of the importance of the Fort Hood community, our mission, and the importance of our families and these families of the fallen soldiers.
GOODWYN: General Cone estimates that 600 soldiers and civilians were affected by the attack, either were at the Readiness Center when the shooting occurred, or were involved in rescuing, transporting, and treating the wounded. The Army will be offering counseling to all. The general emphasized that Fort Hood is no stranger to deaths in the family.
Lt. Gen. CONE: The person who is most prepared to deal with this are the soldiers. This is what we do. Many of us are used to being in theater, and something like this happens. We do the memorial service, we send our comrades home, and then we move on with the mission.
GOODWYN: But moving on with the mission does not mean the Army is not deeply unsettled by the fratricide.
Lt. Gen. CONE: I think whats really important is that Hasan was a soldier. We have other soldiers that might have some of the same stress and indicators that he has, and we have to look across our entire formation, not just in a medical community, but really look hard to our right and left. And thats a responsibility of everybody from the top to the bottom.
GOODWYN: If the generals are thinking about damage control, the rank and file are getting back to work, but there is an awareness now that the violence doesnt have to wait for a soldiers arrival in Iraq or Afghanistan. Sergeant Tina Bonicorrie(ph) is a security NCO for III Corps.
Sergeant TINA BONICORRIE: It was very shocking. A lot of people cannot believe that one of our own, and not only one of our own, but an officer, could do this to innocent people that were getting ready to deploy, or coming back from deployment.
GOODWYN: Specialist Jermaine Lee(ph), signal support, is getting ready to be deployed to Iraq in February. Ask Specialist Lee whats on his mind and he is succinct.
Specialist JERMAINE LEE (Specialist Signal Support, U.S. Army): Go there, take care of my job for the time I have to, and make it back home safe, sir.
GOODWYN: For the thousands of soldiers at Fort Hood like Specialist Lee, the shooting last week is about one dangerous attack avoided, with more to come.
Wade Goodwyn, NPR News, Killeen, Texas. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.
