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Author Topic: Shooting at Ft. Hood Texas 11/05/09 13 dead, 43 wounded-(Murder Charges)  (Read 730872 times)
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« Reply #780 on: November 24, 2009, 10:09:25 PM »



From a family member of one of the Fort Hood victims:

"Down in Dothan, Alabama a man had a TV on in his office when the news of the Fort Hood military base shootings came on. The husband of one of his employees was stationed there. He called her into his office and the minute he told her what was going on, she got a text message from her husband saying, "I am okay." The cell phone started ringing right after that. It was an ER nurse. She said, "I'm the one who just sent you a text, not your husband." She thought the message would be comforting, but she immediately knew she had to let the wife know what was going on. She said, "I am sorry but your husband has been shot 4 times and he is in surgery."

The wife left Southern Clinic in Dothan and drove all night.

Miraculously, here is the photo I just received from my brother that was taken today in the hospital room. He is awake and will recover. His wife, who lives in Dothan , made it to Ft. Hood about the time he was waking up. Thought I'd share this great outcome. THIS PICTURE WAS NOT A PHOTO OP; IT WAS TAKEN BY A FRIEND. "
http://community.fox4kc.com/_Where-was-Bambi/BLOG/1516928/96364.html
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« Reply #781 on: November 24, 2009, 10:11:26 PM »

Killer had many opportunities afforded him by America

Much is being written about the upcoming trials of Major Hassan and the “men” behind the bombing of the twin towers. Here we have 13 American soldiers, murdered in cold blood, at Fort Hood, and we're providing this man (terrorist) an attorney at our expense (his salary is approximately $92,000 annually) to defend his constitutional rights. Our great leader tells us we mustn't refer to him as a terrorist as it will cause “backlash” within his religion. This will upset them, as all don't share the same ideals. We understand that, and we're also aware that they behead people.

It's horrible this man killed so many, was paid so well by the military, had so many opportunities afforded him, by America, and turned on us. I'm quite sure his punishment won't be death (unless the trial moves to Texas) because again “backlash.” We must become forceful at crimes against us and render justice and punishment quickly. We often use the term “closure” regarding deaths — this is a meaningless word. There are 13 families burying a loved one. Try explaining closure to them. This trial will only provide an opportunity for further acts of terrorism. Not good, Mr. and Mrs. America. We must take a stand and elect people who will listen to us and our needs and defend America. God bless America.

PAUL KORZEC
Manning
http://www.theitem.com/article/20091124/OPED01/711249915/-1/OPED
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« Reply #782 on: November 24, 2009, 10:30:18 PM »


 Army Reserve Col. Kathy Platoni is greeted by her husband John Hutchinson Tuesday, Nov. 24, at Dayton International Airport upon her return from Fort Hood. Platoni was training for deployment to Afghanistan when three members of her unit and six others were killed during a shooting rampage.
Staff photo by Jan Underwood

Local Army reservist can’t shake images of Fort Hood aftermath

By Margo Rutledge Kissell, Staff Writer
 Updated 8:20 PM Tuesday, November 24, 2009


Col. Kathy Platoni gives a hug to Susan Young in front of fallen soldiers memorial before the start of the Memorial ceremony held at U.S. Army's III Corps headquarters in Fort Hood, Texas, on Tuesday, November 10, 2009. Young an LVN was at the SRP Center and performed medical aid helping save several wounded soldiers shot during Thursday's shooting.
Photo by Rodolfo Gonzalez/ Austin American-Statesman via The New York Times


Army Reserve Col. Kathy Platoni of Beavercreek can’t shake the images of seeing her fellow soldiers die in the aftermath of the shooting rampage at Fort Hood.

“It’s probably the most difficult thing most of us have ever been through in our lives,” said Platoni, 57, a clinical psychologist who maintains a private practice in Centerville.

She is to arrive home Tuesday afternoon, Nov. 24, on leave for Thanksgiving.

Slated to deploy to Afghanistan in early December with the Madison, Wisc.-based 467th Medical Detachment, Combat Stress Control, Platoni arrived at the sprawling Texas military post the day before the Nov. 5 rampage. She knew five of the soldiers who were killed and several of the wounded.

The morning of the shootings, she had spent several hours in the readiness processing center where Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan is accused of later killing 13 people and wounding 30 others.

Platoni was in line in the nearby Soldier’s Dome about 1:30 p.m. when she heard people screaming that shots had been fired in the other building.

She shoved several soldiers out a back door and then saw people begin carrying in the wounded.

She was at the side of her friend, Capt. John Gaffaney, 56, who was bleeding from several gunshot wounds, when he died. In all, three people from her unit were killed and six others were injured. She also knew two others who died from her “sister” unit, the 1908th Medical Detachment in which she used to serve.

In the weeks since the tragedy, Platoni said she and fellow reservists have been “hanging together very tightly” and talking a lot about what happened.

On Saturday, she joined other soldiers in going through a formal behavioral health screening and interview to see how she’s coping. She hasn’t been called back for a second interview, which she views as a positive sign.

Platoni did not know Hasan but said he was assigned to deploy with her unit.

“You could come to the conclusion he targeted us,” she said.

Platoni said she and other reservists are committed to carrying out their upcoming mission despite the tragedy.

“Though Hasan wanted to stop this mission, he lost,” she said. “We are going forward.”
http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/local-army-reservist-cant-shake-images-of-fort-hood-aftermath-419036.html
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« Reply #783 on: November 24, 2009, 10:34:35 PM »

Reservists become ‘family’ after Fort Hood tragedy

By Margo Rutledge Kissell, Staff Writer
7:51 PM Tuesday, November 24, 2009

In the weeks since the Fort Hood tragedy, Army Reserve Col. Kathy Platoni said she and fellow reservists have been “hanging together very tightly” and talking a lot about what happened.

Going through the ordeal together has strengthened the unit.

“We have become a family,” said Platoni of Beavercreek, a clinical psychologist. “That’s how we’ve gotten through it.”

On Saturday, she went through a formal behavioral health screening and interview to see how she’s coping with what happened. She hasn’t been called back for a second interview.

Platoni will deploy in the coming weeks to Afghanistan with the 467th Medical Detachment as the officer in charge of a small team providing combat operations stress control services.

It will be her third deployment since the Sept. 11 attacks. She counseled soldiers at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, from 2003 to 2004 and later served in Iraq.

Three people from her combat stress control detachment were killed and six others were injured at Fort Hood. She also knew two soldiers who died from her “sister” unit, the 1908th Medical Detachment in which she used to serve.

Among the dead were Major Eduardo Caraveo, 52, of Woodbridge, Va., who had come to the United States from Mexico as a child, barely speaking the language. He became the first member of his family to graduate from college and later earned a doctorate in clinical psychology.

“He was one of the brightest lights in our unit,” she said.

Also killed were her two convoy buddies — Sgt. Amy Krueger, 29, a “tough as nails” mental health therapist, and Capt. Russell Seager, 51, whom she called a “gentle giant.”

She had gone through combat training with them at Fort Hunter Liggett in California prior to their arrival at Fort Hood. The training put them through various scenarios including being prepared for improvised explosive devices in Afghanistan.

There was no training to prepare them for the worst mass shooting at an American military base.

“This was our battlefield,” she said.

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/reservists-become-family-after-fort-hood-tragedy-419451.html
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« Reply #784 on: November 24, 2009, 10:42:53 PM »

Witnesses say reservist was a Fort Hood hero

By Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY

Three weeks after 13 people were shot and killed at Fort Hood, Texas, new details are emerging about an Army Reserve captain who died trying to fight off the gunman before police arrived.

Investigators are still sorting out the actions of Capt. John Gaffaney , 56, a psychiatric nurse. But according to varying eyewitness accounts, Gaffaney either picked up a chair and threw it at Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Hasan, the accused killer, or physically rushed him from across the room.

Army Maj. Gen. Lie-Ping Chang, commander of the reserve force to which Gaffaney belonged, said that two eyewitnesses recounted how the reservist threw a folding chair and "tried to knock (Hasan) down or knock his gun down." Chang included this account in an essay submitted to USA TODAY.

Army Reserve Col. Kathy Platoni, a clinical psychologist who served with Gaffaney, said she was told that he rushed Hasan to within inches before being shot several times.

Platoni said she comforted Gaffaney as he lay dying in a building nearby where soldiers brought him after he was mortally wounded, ripping off pieces of their uniform to use as pressure bandages or tourniquets to stem his massive bleeding from multiple wounds.

"I just started talking to him and holding his hand and saying, 'John, you're going to be OK. You're going to be OK. You've just got to fight,' " Platoni recalls.

He died shortly after that, she says. "I was still yelling, 'John, don't go. John, don't go.' "

Regardless of what actions Gaffaney took, soldiers were able to escape the gunman when Gaffaney confronted him, Chang says. Gaffaney's widow, Christine, said one female soldier told her that he saved her life.

"I have no idea precisely what his actions were," says Army spokesman Jay Adams at Fort Hood. "But … I am sure there is truth in those accounts."

The initial account of Gaffaney's actions came from a USA TODAY interview with Chang about plans to replace 16 mental health workers killed or wounded at Fort Hood. Investigators are still trying to determine precise details, including which police officer shot and wounded Hasan.

Initial reports, including from Chuck Medley, Fort Hood's director of emergency services, were that police Sgt. Kimberly Munley had shot and wounded Hasan. On Nov. 11, however, senior police Sgt. Mark Todd, who had arrived at the shooting with Munley said in a televised interview with Oprah Winfrey and The New York Times that he had shot and handcuffed Hasan. Todd declined further comment to the Times, citing the ongoing investigation.

Christine Gaffaney said accounts of her husband's actions "didn't surprise me. It sounded just like John. He wouldn't be the one who would be ducking or staying out of harm's way. He would have been trying to protect everyone else."

Her husband was a psychiatric nurse preparing to deploy to Iraq. The couple's home was in San Diego.

She says she learned of John Gaffaney's actions while attending a memorial service at Fort Hood for the 13 killed. Among the dead was Army Capt. Russell Seager, 51, who had been teamed up with Gaffaney as a partner or "battle buddy" since their training exercises together.

A soldier approached her at Fort Hood to say John Gaffaney saved his life, she says. A chaplain who counseled grieving troops from Gaffaney's unit also described her husband's heroics.

John Gaffaney had arrived at Fort Hood the day before the shooting, his widow says. When she heard news of the shootings, Christine Gaffaney says she tried to call her husband's cellphone and thought he didn't answer because he was helping others.

She was stunned when an Army chaplain and casualty officer arrived at her door. "They didn't even have to say anything," she recalls. "I already knew."

Christine Gaffaney says she had been confident her husband would be relatively safe during his year-long deployment to Iraq, where violence has diminished and his assignment was inside a fortified installation.

"So when this (Fort Hood shooting) happened, it was just — I couldn't believe it," she says.

The couple, married 33 years, have a son, Matthew.

Gaffaney was a supervisor for the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency assisting seniors who had financial problems or were victims of abuse. A Navy veteran who later served 15 years with the California Army National Guard before retiring as a major, he had been eager to re-join the military after Sept. 11, 2001.

Aware that the Army was in dire need of mental health workers as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan dragged on, Gaffaney took the lower rank of captain to serve as a psychiatric nurse in the Army Reserve.

"That didn't bother him," his widow says. "It was a calling."

Gaffaney was an avid San Diego Padres fan who had restored a 1965 Mustang right down to the fuzzy dice hanging from the rear-view mirror, and had purchased a Harley-Davidson motorcycle earlier this year.

"I want people to know that my husband was a hero," says Christine Gaffaney.

"(And) he was my best friend."

http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/2009-11-24-fort-hood-hero_N.htm
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« Reply #785 on: November 24, 2009, 10:46:00 PM »

Galligan said Hasan may face additional charges for the Nov. 5 shooting spree. He said he was alerted to the new charges during a pre-trial confinement hearing before a military magistrate held in Hasan's San Antonio hospital room Saturday.

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/FtHoodInvestigation/pentagon-probers-arrive-fort-hood/story?id=9167976
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« Reply #786 on: November 24, 2009, 10:56:36 PM »

thanks for all the news on Ft. Hood, Heart...
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« Reply #787 on: November 24, 2009, 10:59:30 PM »

Did A File Error Stall FBI Inquiry Into Hasan?

by Daniel Zwerdling
November 25, 2009

The FBI might have missed important and troubling clues about the behavior of Maj. Nidal Hasan, the alleged Fort Hood shooter, due to a simple oversight: FBI agents did not ask Hasan's supervisors at Walter Reed Army Medical Center for the most relevant information from a filing cabinet.

Although Hasan had come to the attention of both Army and FBI officials long before he was transferred to Fort Hood this past summer, neither side connected the dots, partly because of plain old human error.

Mike German, an FBI agent for 16 years who is now at the American Civil Liberties Union, is philosophical about the missed opportunity. Hasan allegedly killed 13 people in a mass shooting at Fort Hood on Nov. 5. Even the best investigation, German says, might not have been able to forecast the actions Hasan is accused of taking.

"Thankfully, that's a very rare event," German says of the Fort Hood shootings. "Here's the problem: It's very hard to predict the future."

NPR has reconstructed what officials in the FBI and Army did or didn't do over the past year with regard to Hasan. FBI and Army spokesmen didn't return NPR's calls, so this report is based on interviews with former FBI officials and sources at Walter Reed, and the military's medical school. Hasan trained at both of those places before he went to Fort Hood. The evidence suggests that what follows is what likely happened.
Read The Memo

Read a transcript of the May 2007 memo obtained by NPR in which Dr. Scott Moran, the chief of psychiatric residents at Walter Reed, outlines his concerns about Hasan:
The 2007 Memo About Maj. Nidal Hasan:  http://www.npr.org/documents/2009/nov/hasanletter.pdf


The Scenario

It's December 2008. U.S. spy agencies are keeping track of the radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who used to preach in Virginia but is now living in Yemen. Electronic intercepts reveal that Awlaki and Hasan are trading e-mails. So they send a report about it to the Joint Terrorism Task Force in the Washington, D.C., area. Most likely, a supervisor hands it to an FBI agent.

"He'd probably say, 'Check it out, see what you find.' That's probably about it," says Marion Bowman, one of the top officials at the FBI in charge of national security until a few years ago.

Bowman says that at this point, the FBI agent would have done what's called an assessment. The agent might have checked out Hasan in court records and other public government files. Hasan's driving record would have been pulled.

"Their primary reason would be to get a picture," Bowman says.

And then the FBI agent would have probably picked up the phone and called Walter Reed.

And at this point, let's freeze that frame for a moment: The FBI agent is reaching for the phone.

And let's go to Walter Reed. As NPR previously reported, Hasan's boss wrote a memo that harshly criticized Hasan.

Dr. Scott Moran, the chief of psychiatric residents at Walter Reed, said in that memo that Hasan had poor judgment and was unprofessional. Some colleagues had been troubled by a lecture Hasan gave about Islam. They felt that he was telling them that nonbelievers like them should go to hell on Earth. Hasan showed PowerPoint slides to back it up. Some supervisors had even wondered if Hasan might be psychotic. Much of this information, including the Islamic lecture, was in Hasan's training file. Every resident has a training file, a thick folder that's stored behind a secretary's desk at Walter Reed.

Now, let's go back to the FBI agent. He calls Walter Reed, but he doesn't get any of this information in the training file.

"I'm not surprised," Bowman says. "I'm not surprised at all."

The Wrong File

Bowman says here's what likely happened. It's routine: The agent calls Walter Reed's security office. Then a security officer calls the commander's office. And somebody pulls Hasan's personnel file, not the training file. They tell the FBI agent what's in the personnel file.

But sources at Walter Reed say personnel files in the military are pretty basic: rank, awards, military history. They say the negative details about Hasan were in his separate training file. But the FBI agent didn't meet with Hasan's supervisors or ask anybody at Walter Reed about the training file, according to sources. Bowman says if the agent had done that, things might have been different.

That agent, says Bowman, might have gone to an FBI supervisor and said, " 'You know, we may have some problems here. I don't know if it's a fundamentalist problem — meaning Muslim fundamentalist — or we might have a danger problem. I think we need to open a case.' "

Bowman says you need to put this in context: Each day, the FBI receives more than 100 potential threats to national security. They only have a few dozen agents to check them out. That means only a few hours to decide whether someone is harmless or a potential threat.

And what about the psychiatrists at Walter Reed — why didn't they call the FBI? The psychiatrists say that the Army doesn't train them to spot potential killers. It trains them to heal people.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120765741
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« Reply #788 on: November 24, 2009, 11:02:49 PM »

thanks for all the news on Ft. Hood, Heart...

Hi there cookie.  My pleasure!
 
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« Reply #789 on: November 25, 2009, 09:22:58 PM »

Ft. Hood victim with Tucson ties buried with full military honors

Posted: Nov 25, 2009 6:48 PM CST Updated: Nov 25, 2009 6:49 PM CST
Posted by Brian White

ARLINGTON, VA (CBS) - For the second time this week, a victim of the Fort Hood mass shooting was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery.

This time, a victim with Tucson ties.

Misty rain set a somber tone for the burial of Major Libardo Eduardo Caraveo with full military honors.



Caraveo Arlington for the 10-year Army National Guardsman.

Major Caraveo was about to be deployed to Afghanistan where he would have been part of a support unit that would help soldiers deal with the stress of war.

Now, instead, he's buried next to Lieutenant Colonel Juanita Warman of Havre de Grace, Maryland, another Fort Hood victim who was buried Monday, Nov. 23.

Major Caraveo was part of a Wisconsin-based detachment. He had been at Fort Hood fewer than 24 hours when he was killed. Caraveo's widow and five children led mourners to a graveside service.

He received his graduate degree from the University of Arizona in 1986 and taught at both the UA and Pima Community College.

The 52-year-old clinical psychologist was buried on Wednesday.
http://www.kold.com/Global/story.asp?S=11575658


A caisson carries the remains of Maj. Libardo Caraveo during burial services at Arlington National Cemetery on Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2009 in Arlington, Va. Caraveo was killed in the shooting at Fort Hood.
(AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)


Members of the honor guard carry the remains of Maj. Libardo Caraveo during burial services at Arlington National Cemetery on Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2009 in Arlington, Va. Caraveo was killed in the shooting at Fort Hood.
(AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)


Angela Rivera, second from left, is escorted with her son, John Caraveo, bottom, to the gravesite of her husband, Maj. Libardo Caraveo, during burial services at Arlington National Cemetery on Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2009 in Arlington, Va. Caraveo was killed in the shooting at Fort Hood.
(AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)


Maj. Libardo Caraveo's sons and stepdaughters mourn during his burial service at Arlington National Cemetery on Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2009 in Arlington, Va. Caraveo was killed in the shooting at Fort Hood.
(A (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)


Honor guard members hold flags which will be presented to the sons and stepdaughters of Maj. Libardo Caraveo during burial services at Arlington National Cemetery on Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2009 in Arlington, Va. Caraveo was killed in the shooting at Fort Hood.
(AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)


Brig. Gen. Lie-ping Chang, left, presents a flag to a stepdaughter of Maj. Libardo Caraveo during burial services at Arlington National Cemetery on Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2009 in Arlington, Va. Caraveo was killed in the shooting at Fort Hood.
(AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)

A Tribute to Fallen Special Education Hero - Major L. Eduardo Caraveo

We at EnCompass Education are humbled and inspired by the many contributions of Major L. Eduardo Caraveo of Tucson Arizona, victim of the Fort Hood shooting rampage...

A native of Mexico, Caraveo arrived in the US as a teen, with aspirations of making a difference. Decades later, we look back on a storied journey of accomplishment, ranging from a Ph.D. in clinical psychology to extensive work with bilingual special needs students at Tucson-area schools to eventual foundation of a practice dedicated to helping those struggling with issues of diversity in the workplace, in addition to marriage counseling and anger management. This description of his diversity workshop, taken from his website, gives a nice vignette of the impact he had on others:

Effective interpersonal communication and modulations of emotions has been identified as one of the principal factors in terms of quality of life. The impact of effectively dealing with the diversity around you transcends all barriers and it affects social, psychological and vocational domains... The ability to control these type of emotions is an effective tool in creating viable work environments by allowing positive interactions amongst staff... This self awareness can directly contribute to group cohesion in the work environment. 

For heroic contributions to both his country and the special education community, we hope to bring recognition to Major L. Eduardo Caraveo's work...

http://www.encompasseducation.com/eduardo-caraveo/
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« Reply #790 on: November 25, 2009, 09:29:04 PM »

A Fort Hood warning, unheeded

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

The Nov. 21 front-page story "Hasan had intensified contact with cleric" said that the "alleged" Fort Hood murderer, Army Maj. Nidal M. Hasan, "intensified his communications with a radical Yemeni American cleric" before his murderous rampage. It went on: "The e-mails were obtained by an FBI-led task force in San Diego between late last year and June but were not forwarded to the military."

Let me see if I understand this: A major in the U.S. Army, a doctor responsible for treating the psychological and emotional wounds of U.S. soldiers, is in close contact with a radical Muslim cleric who favors blowing up buildings and killing innocent people. The FBI knows this but does not find it necessary to notify military authorities.

If there was ever a more egregious case of gross negligence and wanton malpractice by a federal authority in the performance of its duties, I have never heard of it.

Stephen W. Groo, Churchton, Md.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/24/AR2009112403777.html
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« Reply #791 on: November 25, 2009, 09:36:19 PM »


Spc. Grant Moxon

Soldier Hurt At Ft. Hood Returns Home
Moxon Recovering In Lodi With Family

Posted: 7:45 pm CST November 25, 2009
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LODI, Wis. -- A soldier who was among those injured in the Fort Hood shooting rampage in Texas has returned home to Lodi, and his return is making the holidays even more special for his family. 

Army Reserve Spc. Grant Moxon was supposed to go to Afghanistan next month with his Madison-based 467th Medical Detachment unit to counsel soldiers with mental health needs.

Instead, he's dealing with his own, as well as a bullet wound, but he's also giving thanks for his blessings along the way.

"There's definitely a lot more to be thankful for," said Moxon from home after catching a flight back to Wisconsin last Friday.

At the Moxon house in Lodi just north of Madison, the Thanksgiving traditions were well under way Wednesday.

His mother Kathy was busy making apple pie, while her oldest son played with the family cat Shadow, albeit using a new cane.

"It's just an extra special thing to know that he's safe and he's home," Kathy Moxon said.

Moxon's father agreed that this holiday is special.

"Absolutely. It really makes it meaningful," Dave Moxon said.

The family of five said this Thanksgiving will be extra special as they ponder the good fortune of having their 23-year-old soldier return home after being caught in -- and surviving -- the Fort Hood shooting.

"When I first heard he was shot, it was like, 'It can't be, it's my son. He can't possible by shot,' you know?" Dave Moxon said.

"I was just really glad I was able to make it back alive, with only just a little bullet hole in my leg. It could be worse," Grant Moxon said.

Grant Moxon said he was sitting down with other unit members when he heard shouting and shots fired. Moxon said he thought it was an army exercise and so did others.

He said the bullet felt "like a sledgehammer" and he played dead for a short bit before hiding behind a desk and then running out of the building with some others.

"The bullet went into my leg right there," he said, pointing to his left leg. "So about two inches above my knee, and it's lodged somewhere in my thigh."

Taking the bullet out of Moxon's leg might cause muscle damage, so it's being left in.

But he said being home helps him with his physical and emotional injuries, including the loss of three buddies from his unit who killed in the rampage.

"(I'm) definitely coming to terms with it now, but with it's not easy," Grant Moxon said.

Moxon had been on base just 24 hours before the shots rang out, and despite his gunshot he ran out of the building.

Three weeks later his family's counting its blessings, and so is he.

Grant Moxon said he's got new perspective now on what's really important.

"Enjoy everyday as it comes. I got a lot more to enjoy now. Everything doesn't seem quite as bad," he said.

Grant Moxon said he hopes to be off his cane in a couple weeks and running for sport again in a couple months.

He said he also hopes to work at his Army unit office in Madison, and perhaps get his master's degree in psychology.
http://www.channel3000.com/news/21728220/detail.html
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« Reply #792 on: November 25, 2009, 10:19:39 PM »

Fort Hood shooting victim talks to NBC2 + Video

Posted: Nov 25, 2009 4:56 PM CST Updated: Nov 25, 2009 5:05 PM CST


Justin Johnson


LEE COUNTY: The local soldier shot during the Fort Hood massacre is sharing his story.

Justin Johnson is still recovering after being hit in the chest and foot.  He says when he heard the shots; he thought it was all a training exercise. Then, he realized he'd been hit by a bullet.

"It felt like a rubber something - something rubber," he said. "I'll have to recover with a lot of appointments and a lot of rehab."

He's been in a Texas hospital this whole time with a bullet still lodged in his chest.

But he says he's grateful his mother will be by his side this Thanksgiving.

By Meaghan Smith

http://www.abc-7.com/Global/story.asp?S=11575056#

SWFL soldier shot in Ft. Hood massacre + Video

By Nick Spinetto, WINK News
Story Created: Nov 5, 2009 at 10:40 PM EST
Story Updated: Nov 6, 2009 at 1:02 PM EST

Punta Gorda, Fla - 12:30pm UPDATE: Roxanne Johnson has heard from the U.S Army. She tells us her son 21 year old Justin Johnson is among those shot, but he is alive. She says he is currenty in ICU clinging to life. Roxanne is flying out tonight to go to Fort Hood. Operation Open Arms is paying for the trip.

http://operationopenarms.org/

------
Friday morning, Roxanne Johnson still hasn't heard if her son, 21 year-old Justin Johnson is okay.

Justin Johnson, from Punta Gorda, is station at Fort Hood and is scheduld to be deployed to Afghanistan.

However, Roxanne tells WINK News her son was shot in the Fort Hood shooting Thursday afternoon.

Roxanne says he was shot in the chest and leg.

She was on the phone with him when the shooting happened.

"I was talking to him and we were just joking around then I heard 'dosh, dosh, dosh' in my ear and I said what is that?" Johnson says. "So at first I thought he was just kidding around and turning up the video game, and then I said well maybe it's a training exercise, so then I start listening and I hear all the screaming."

Johnson never hung up the phone after she heard that.

While WINK News was with her -- hours after the shootings -- Johnson still had the phone connected to her son in Fort Hood.

"I just hear people talking and moving around," Johnson says.

She finally got through to the family hotline at Fort Hood, but officials there have not been able to tell her where her son is. They say he is now out of surgery, but haven't released a condition.

Justin Johnson graduated from Charlotte High School.

http://www.winknews.com/news/local/69342482.html

Punta Gorda Soldier Justin Johnson could be headed for more surgery + Video
http://www.winknews.com/news/local/69721732.html
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« Reply #793 on: November 25, 2009, 10:35:41 PM »


Matthew Cooke, a soldier from the Southern Tier, reads cards wishing him the best in his hospital room at Fort Hood, Tex. Cooke was wounded in the Fort Hood shootings and is recovering.

While Matthew Cooke is out of the hospital, he will still have a long recovery and would welcome cards and best wishes. They can be sent to the Carl R. Darnell Medical Center where he was a patient, and the hospital will forward them.

Here is the address:

Matthew Cooke
Room 307
Carl R. Darnell Army Medical Center
36000 Darnell Loop
Fort Hood, Texas 76544-4752

Family thankful for soldier who survived Fort Hood massacre


By George Basler •gbasler@gannett.com • November 25, 2009, 4:51 pm

For Diane Frappier and Carl Cooke, this Thanksgiving will be like no other.

That's because this year, they truly understand what giving thanks is all about.

On Nov. 5, their son -- Spc. Matthew Cooke -- was shot at point-blank range while he used his own body to shield another wounded soldier during the shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas.

Now three weeks later, the young man has lived through intense pain and both good and bad days at the Carl E. Darnell Army Medical Center. But he's still alive and recovering after emergency surgery, and that makes this holiday the best Thanksgiving his parents have ever had.

Matthew Cooke, 30, a graduate of Afton High School in Chenango County who also attended Sidney Central schools, was in a processing center at Fort Hood. Investigators say an Army psychiatrist -- Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan -- opened fire, killing 13 people and wounding 30.

Cooke, a 10-year Army veteran who has served two tours in Iraq, suffered five wounds: Three shots went into his back, one grazed his head, and the last shot "tore up his insides," his mother said.

"I see this as a miracle of God that he's still alive," said Carl Cooke, of Sidney. (He and Diane are no longer married.)

"It's been a fight," said Frappier, who now lives in North Carolina. "But he's doing well now. He is recovering. He will recover. And that makes this the perfect Thanksgiving."

Matthew Cooke doesn't want to talk at this point, said officials at Darnell Medical Center, but he sent word that he's "doing OK."

Her son survived only because of the quick action of his fellow soldiers, Frappier said.

When the shooting started, Matthew saw another soldier with a large chest wound. He threw himself over the soldier to protect his comrade from gunfire and was himself shot in the back three times. Then, when Matthew started to move, he was shot in the stomach, which was the most intense wound of all because it caused extensive internal injuries.

Another soldier, Pvt. Amber Barr, who was shot herself, saw Matthew trying to crawl -- he couldn't walk -- and dragged him out of the building, Frappier said.

For Diane Frappier and Carl Cooke, this Thanksgiving will be like no other.

That's because this year, they truly understand what giving thanks is all about.

On Nov. 5, their son -- Spc. Matthew Cooke -- was shot at point-blank range while he used his own body to shield another wounded soldier during the shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas.

Now three weeks later, the young man has lived through intense pain and both good and bad days at the Carl E. Darnell Army Medical Center. But he's still alive and recovering after emergency surgery, and that makes this holiday the best Thanksgiving his parents have ever had.

Matthew Cooke, 30, a graduate of Afton High School in Chenango County who also attended Sidney Central schools, was in a processing center at Fort Hood. Investigators say an Army psychiatrist -- Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan -- opened fire, killing 13 people and wounding 30.

Cooke, a 10-year Army veteran who has served two tours in Iraq, suffered five wounds: Three shots went into his back, one grazed his head, and the last shot "tore up his insides," his mother said.

"I see this as a miracle of God that he's still alive," said Carl Cooke, of Sidney. (He and Diane are no longer married.)

"It's been a fight," said Frappier, who now lives in North Carolina. "But he's doing well now. He is recovering. He will recover. And that makes this the perfect Thanksgiving."

Matthew Cooke doesn't want to talk at this point, said officials at Darnell Medical Center, but he sent word that he's "doing OK."

Her son survived only because of the quick action of his fellow soldiers, Frappier said.

When the shooting started, Matthew saw another soldier with a large chest wound. He threw himself over the soldier to protect his comrade from gunfire and was himself shot in the back three times. Then, when Matthew started to move, he was shot in the stomach, which was the most intense wound of all because it caused extensive internal injuries.

Another soldier, Pvt. Amber Barr, who was shot herself, saw Matthew trying to crawl -- he couldn't walk -- and dragged him out of the building, Frappier said.

Doctors at the Scott & White Trauma Center in Temple, Texas, told the family later that Matthew would probably have bled to death without Barr's action and the intervention of other soldiers outside the building who worked to stop the bleeding before Cooke was rushed to the hospital.

Carl Cooke said he's talked by telephone with his son every day since the shooting.

When the first call came the day of the shooting, Matthew was on his way to the hospital and told the doctor on board the ambulance to call his parents. He couldn't remember Diane's phone number, but he did know his father's. So the doctor notified Carl Cooke, who then called Diane.

"The first night was a horrible night," Frappier said.

One of the worst times came at 3 a.m., when she got word that one of the critically wounded victims had died. "I can't tell you the pain that went through my mind, not knowing if it was Matthew," she said.

Then, at 9 a.m., she received a telephone call from her daughter-in-law that he was out of surgery and out of his coma, but in critical condition in the ICU.

Since then, Matthew has had ups and downs, said Frappier, who has just returned to North Carolina after traveling to Texas with her husband to be with her son. One of Matthew's sisters, Kim Miller and her husband Grady, who live in Delhi, also drove to Texas after hearing the news.

On bad days, Matthew suffers spasms of intense pain and infections from the wound in his stomach. He now has nine holes in his colon. He lost his bladder and surgeons had to rebuild his intestines.

There is good news, though. On Tuesday, doctors cleared him to leave the hospital for home.

Recovery, though, will be long and hard, his parents said. Matthew will need at least two more surgeries.

One big positive has been the response from the Southern Tier community, which has been overwhelming and touching, Frappier said.

Cards and letters now fill a shoebox. Some have come from school classes. On his good days, Matthew, his wife Sarah and other family members open and read the cards. They posted many in his room.

This community support has been a reason for thanksgiving, as well, the parents said.

While in Texas, Frappier went to the memorial service for the Fort Hood victims. There, she met President Barack Obama and his wife.

No disrespect, but the President and Michelle Obama weren't the most important people she met. Instead, those meetings took place with the soldier whose life her son saved and with Barr, who saved her son's life.

"When I was sitting there with family members who will never see their child again, I'll tell you, it tears you up," she said.

To mark the holiday, Carl Cooke will go to his church, along with his mother and her sister, and then share Thanksgiving dinner. Sometime during the day, he will call his son.

"I'll definitely be saying 'Thank you,'" he said.

In North Carolina, Frappier's celebration will be low key -- she had gall bladder surgery Wednesday -- but the celebration will be special.

"It's not necessarily the dinner that makes it special. And sometimes it's not even family being together," she said. "Our hearts are bound together no matter where we are."

http://www.pressconnects.com/article/20091125/NEWS01/911250374

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« Reply #794 on: November 25, 2009, 10:39:40 PM »

Fort Hood killings raise tension at mosque

by Philip Rucker - Nov. 25, 2009 02:28 PM
Washington Post

KILLEEN, Texas - FBI agents in blue gloves recently converged on a single-story brick mosque on the rural outskirts of town here and pillaged through the giant green dumpster outside in search of evidence. Texas Rangers and news reporters have been an almost constant neighborhood presence, questioning the Muslim families who live on streets with names such as Hamza Circle and Omar Drive.

The Fort Hood shootings have brought unwelcome attention to the band of a few dozen Muslim worshipers, many with military connections, who prayed alongside the suspect, Maj. Nidal Hasan, at the only mosque in this central Texas Army town. With the law enforcement and media scrutiny, some regulars at the Islamic Center of Greater Killeen have not been seen, including an 18-year-old who dined frequently with Hasan and promoted jihadist views on the Internet.

As the inquiry continues into the Nov. 5 massacre on the nation's largest military installation, in which 13 people were killed and dozens others injured, the FBI's quest for clues has led to this mosque where Hasan prayed regularly in the four months since his July transfer from Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

The investigation extends beyond Texas, with FBI agents also questioning leaders of Dar al-Hijrah, a Falls Church, Va., mosque that Hasan and his family once attended and where Anwar al-Aulaqi, a radical Yemeni American cleric, was preaching earlier this decade. Investigators are assessing the religious practices and behavior of Hasan, who has been charged in the killings, to determine whether they could be the work of a radical jihadist with terrorist sympathies or simply a lonely Army psychiatrist.

"It's tremendous pressure," Killeen mosque leader Osman Danquah said. "We are in a state of mourning for what has transpired, and at the same time you have the media swarming down and the FBI swarming down."

Mosque president Manzoor Farooqi condemned the shootings as a "shameless attack" and said he is cooperating with federal investigators. Farooqi, a pediatrician, said that Hasan gave no signals to him or other mosque leaders that he was plotting to kill fellow soldiers.

But more than two weeks later, the rampage still haunts area Muslims.

"It goes into your head and it twists you around," said Nabil Sutherland, 68, a retired steelworker who prays at the mosque. "People come here, you think they're peaceful, humble and praise ... God. You don't think anybody would have any affiliation with radical extremism. To kill other soldiers and innocent human beings ... it's beyond comprehension. The Koran doesn't teach that."

Danquah, a retired Army first sergeant who served in the Persian Gulf War, said he has nightmares thinking that a man who prayed beside him up to five times a day is accused of going on such a spree.

"We want to go forward and heal because this wound is too painful and we want to put it behind us," Danquah said following Friday afternoon prayers last week, as he turned to collect money from worshipers to give to families of the victims.

Some attention has centered on Duane Reasoner Jr., 18, who is said to have recently converted to Islam and attended the mosque. In the weeks before the shootings, he frequently was seen dining with Hasan at the Golden Corral buffet restaurant in Killeen.

On personal Web sites, Reasoner displays provocative videos and photographs of Islamic radicals, including Aulaqi. One of Reasoner's sites features a composite image of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden presiding over a burning White House under siege by armed men in Arab dress.

Shortly after the Fort Hood shootings, Reasoner told a BBC reporter that he is "not going to condemn" Hasan. Of the victims, Reasoner said: "In the end, they were troops who were going to Afghanistan and Iraq to kill Muslims. I honestly have no pity for them."

Reasoner has not been seen at the mosque in recent weeks. He had been working as a substitute teacher for Killeen public schools, but a schools spokeswoman said last week that he no longer is employed.

Reasoner did not respond to several interview requests by the Washington Post. A woman at the modest house in nearby Copperas Cove where Reasoner is believed to have been living with his parents declined to be interviewed and filed a police complaint after a reporter left notes for Reasoner at his home.

At the Killeen mosque, founded by Army veterans a decade ago, imam Syed Ahmed Ali, a stout man with a long, gray beard, dismissed the suggestion that his teachings may have inspired Hasan or Reasoner. "This is not Islam," he said.

Jerry Jewell, a Baptist pastor at nearby Living Hope: The Church in the Field, visits the mosque frequently and said, "Every message the imam has had, he has spoken only of doing good and being peaceful. I have never heard him preach a radical jihadist message."

Some Killeen Muslims said they are angry that their mosque is being portrayed by some as a cradle of extremism.

"You can't stop people from saying crazy things," Danquah added.

Hasan "deserves to be called a soldier, not a terrorist, until the investigation is finished," said Abdulkarim Hulwe, 45, an Army veteran who prays at the mosque. "If this guy carried a Bible in his hand and his name was John or David, would we call him a terrorist? No. I've never heard the word Christian terrorist.' Why, if something happens with a Muslim named Hasan, why do we call him a terrorist?"

About 70 Muslim families pray at the Killeen mosque, and many of them have members who are active duty or retired soldiers. For them, the shootings have been a "double betrayal," said Maj. Dawud Agbere, who led Friday's prayer service.

"First of all, these are people who are involved with the military. These are loyal Americans who have served," said Agbere, one of the Army's six Muslim chaplains, who was dispatched from Fort Leavenworth, Kan., to counsel Fort Hood's 165 Muslim soldiers.

"But second," he continued, "with all these terrorist activities, if there's one thing that Islam holds sacred, it's the human soul - human life. How do you just destroy life? The fact that you waste human life, that's just wrong, and people are angry about that."

Agbere told the worshipers that the experience is a reminder of the need to engage with fellow Muslims.

"If there is something we learned from what happened to us, it is that we don't know each other," he said. "If we just come to the mosque and pray and leave, that is wrong. ... We cannot be an island onto ourselves."

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2009/11/25/20091125forthood-mosque1125-ON.html
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« Reply #795 on: November 25, 2009, 11:08:07 PM »

Newly Released Photos A Reminder Of The Toll Of Fort Hood Shooting

Photographs that Fort Hood released Wednesday show the solemn scene at Robert Gray Army Airfield as members of the post’s honor detail carried the flag-draped caskets of the 13 victims of the deadly shooting rampage three weeks ago aboard a plane for a flight to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.


embers of the Fort Hood honor detail carry one of the Nov. 5 shooting victims past fellow Soldiers to the waiting aircraft. The 12 Soldiers and one civilian were flown from Fort Hood to Dover Air Force Base, Del., Nov. 6. (U.S. Army Photo by Sgt. John Ortiz) 2


The 1st Cavalry Division band provided music for the Fort Hood departure of the Nov. 5 shooting victims. The remains of 12 Soldiers and one civilian were flown from Fort Hood to Dover Air Force Base Nov. 6. (U.S. Army Photo by John Byerly)


The remains of Pvt. Francheska Velez are carried to the aircraft by a Fort Hood honor detail as a congressional delegation pays honors. Velez was killed with 12 others during the Nov. 5 shootings at Fort Hood. (U.S. Army Photo by John Byerly)


Soldiers honor their unit members Nov. 6 at Robert Gray Army Airfield during the Fort Hood departure of the 13 victims of the Nov. 5 massacre. (U.S. Army Photo by John Byerly)


The remains of Sgt. Amy S. Krueger are carried to the waiting aircraft by the Fort Hood honor detail. Krueger was killed during the Nov. 5 massacre at Fort Hood. (U.S. Army Photo by John Byerly)


The air crew salutes as the remains of Spc. Jason D. Hunt are carried onboard. Hunt was one of 13 people killed during the Nov. 5 rampage at Fort Hood. (U.S. Army Photo by John Byerly)


The remains of Sgt. Amy S. Krueger are carried to the waiting aircraft by the Fort Hood honor detail. Krueger was killed during the Nov. 5 massacre at Fort Hood. (U.S. Army Photo by John Byerly)


Secretary of the Army John McHugh, Chief of the Staff of the Army George W. Casey, Jr., Sheila Casey, III Corps and Fort Hood Commander Lt. Gen. Robert Cone, and Jill Cone honor the fallen Nov. 6 during the Fort Hood Departure of the Nov. 5 massacre victims. (U.S. Army Photo by Spc. Eric J. Martinez)


A Fort Hood honor detail pauses after bringing the remains of Capt. John P. Gaffaney aboard the aircraft to be flown with 12 other victims Nov. 6 from Fort Hood to Dover Air Force Base, Del. Gaffaney was one of 13 people killed during a shooting rampage Nov. 5 at Fort Hood. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. John Ortiz)


The remains of the Nov. 5 massacre victims at Fort Hood are loaded aboard an aircraft before being flown to Dover Air Force Base, Del. Twelve Soldiers and one civilian were killed Nov. 6 at the post's Soldier Readiness Processing Center. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. John Ortiz)

http://www.kwtx.com/home/headlines/73874472.html?storySection=photo
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« Reply #796 on: November 26, 2009, 05:03:52 PM »

HEART, thank you for continuing on with the articles and funerals from the Ft Hood Massacre. Each is heart breaking. Stories of bravery, descriptions of the real people that were killed or wounded only doing their job for our country. Also, the stories of failures to stop this terrorist are infuriating and heartbreaking in themselves.

I especially want to thank you for the story about Army Reserve Col Kathy Platoni. She is local to our area, and has quite a story herself. Thankfully not physically injured, but injured non the less. I don't think I will be able to forget about all these people.

On this THANKSGIVING DAY I hope that the pain of this will be lifted from all the lives that were affected. I am giving thanks today that we have our military to depend on. It is a very diverse group of people who look after our freedom. God bless America and God bless them.

God Bless you too, HEART.    an angelic monkey Happy Thanksgiving.
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Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world.

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« Reply #797 on: December 02, 2009, 04:17:18 PM »



Fort Hood suspect charged with attempted murder

By ANGELA K. BROWN (AP)

FORT WORTH, Texas — The Army has charged the suspect in the Fort Hood shooting spree with 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder.

The charges are in addition to the 13 premeditated murder charges filed against Maj. Nidal (Nee-DAHL) Hasan (Huh-SAHN') in the Nov. 5 massacre at Fort Hood.

The Army says the attempted murder charges filed Wednesday are related to the 30 soldiers and two civilian police officers injured in the shooting at a soldier processing center on the central Texas post.

Hasan's attorney, John Galligan, says the additional charges may not affect Hasan's punishment if he is convicted, because premeditated murder carries the death penalty.

Authorities haven't said whether they plan to seek the death penalty.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ihGepAkECGoDagETVBMpPb3w7Y3gD9CBCRTG2
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« Reply #798 on: December 02, 2009, 04:22:39 PM »

Army to seek psychiatric review for Fort Hood shooting suspect

10:56 AM CST on Wednesday, December 2, 2009

By LEE HANCOCK and BROOKS EGERTON / The Dallas Morning News
lhancock@dallasnews.com; begerton@dallasnews.com

The U.S. military is questioning the sanity of Fort Hood gunman Nidal Malik Hasan and wants a formal psychiatric review to determine whether he can stand trial on murder charges, his lawyer said late Tuesday.

Hasan's Army commander notified lead defense counsel John Galligan by e-mail that he would ask a special court martial today to order an evaluation of Hasan's mental state.

Hasan, a career Army psychiatrist, is charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder in the Nov. 5 shooting rampage on the Central Texas military post.

The formal request for a "sanity board," known in the military as a mental responsibility inquiry, cites the "magnitude and seriousness" of the attacks at Fort Hood, Galligan told The Dallas Morning News.

The one-page document, e-mailed and signed by Capt. James Huber, says that Hasan's "alleged conduct makes me believe that reason possibly exists to believe the accused lacks mental responsibility and capacity," Galligan said, reading from the document.

"I'll agree with him that there's reason to believe that. But the manner in which he wants to go out and assess that is premature," said Galligan, a retired colonel and former chief judge for the military district that includes Fort Hood.

Hasan remains in intensive care at a San Antonio military hospital, paralyzed from the waist down after being shot by two civilian police officers at the base.

According to the Army document, Galligan said, Hasan's Army medical team has cleared him for an immediate mental evaluation. But Hasan is unable to converse for more than a half hour at a time and dozed off repeatedly during a recent pretrial detention hearing, Galligan said.

"I'm asking myself, is this the appropriate time to do a mental responsibility exam when the guy's in an ICU, when we still don't know what all the charges are?" Galligan said.

Fort Hood spokesman Chris Haug told The Associated Press he had no information on the request.

Patrick McLain, a Dallas defense lawyer and former military judge not involved in the case, said there were several possible reasons for the Army's action.

One is tactical. Prosecutors might want to force the issue of mental competency quickly, given that Galligan has said he was considering an insanity defense but has not sought a hearing himself.

"The prosecutor may think that the longer the defendant is conscious and talking, the more he might get the notion of trying to game the system by trying to come up with things to mimic mental disease or defect," McLain said.

Or there could be political reasons. Army leadership could be anxious to put the tragedy behind it and to focus on the larger military mission, McLain said. And Obama administration officials "really want to de-emphasize the Muslim component to this whole thing," he added.

Hasan, born in Virginia to Palestinian immigrants, had argued that Muslim soldiers should be given a military discharge rather than forced to fight in predominantly Muslim countries, such as Iraq and Afghanistan. In the months leading up to the shooting, Hasan also had corresponded via e-mail with a radical imam in Yemen who urged Western Muslims to practice jihad and advocated killing soldiers.

Galligan questioned where Hasan would be able to get an impartial psychiatric assessment.

Mental exams for soldiers accused of crimes at Fort Hood usually are done at the post hospital, Galligan said, but Hasan was stationed there for several months before the shooting. Soldiers can also be evaluated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, but Hasan also worked there.

"Again, we're back to some difficult questions: Where would this board be? Who would convene it? Who would they direct to be on it?" Galligan said. "The Army psychiatric community is itself under scrutiny in this case."

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/nation/stories/DN-hasansanity_02pro.ART.State.Edition2.4b7a31f.html
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« Reply #799 on: December 02, 2009, 04:28:20 PM »

Colorado Feds Look At Fort Hood Connection To Cleric
Federal authorities in Colorado are reviewing a 2002 file on a Muslim cleric who communicated with the shooting suspect at the Central Texas Army post.

http://www.kwtx.com/home/headlines/78304247.html?storySection=comments


(AP Muhammad ud-Deen) This Oct. 2008 photo shows Imam Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen. The imam, who communicated with Fort Hood shooting suspect Maj. Nidal Hasan and called him a hero, was once arrested in Yemen on suspicion of giving religious approval to militants to conduct kidnappings.
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