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Old 11-09-2009, 04:28 PM   #1
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ft hood

Since I don't know when I'll sleep (it's 4 am now) I'll write what happened (the abbreviated version..... the long one is already part of the investigation with more to come). I'll not write about any part of the investigation that I've learned about since (as a witness I know more than I should since inevitably my JAG brothers and sisters are deeply involved in the investigation) . Don't assume that most of the current media accounts are very accurate. They're not. They'll improve with time. Only those of us who were there really know what went down. But as they collate our statements they'll get it right.

I did my SRP last week (Soldier Readiness Processing) but you're supposed to come back a week later to have them look at the smallpox vaccination site (it's this big itchy growth on your shoulder). I am probably alive because entered the wrong building first (the main SRP building). The Medical SRP building is off to the side. Realizing my mistake I left the main building and walked down the sidewalk to the medical SRP building.

As I'm walking up to it the gunshots start. Slow and methodical. But continuous. Two ambulatory wounded came out. Then two soldiers dragging a third who was covered in blood. Hearing the shots but not seeing the shooter, along with a couple other soldiers I stood in the street and yelled at everyone who came running that it was clear but to "RUN!". I kept motioning people fast. A few minutes later (the shooting continuous), two cops ran up. one male, one female. We pointed in the direction of the shots. they headed that way (the medical SRP building was about 50 meters away). then a lot more gunfire.

A couple minutes later a balding man in ACU's came around the building carrying a pistol and holding it tactically. He started shooting at us and we all dived back to the cars behind us. I don't think he hit the couple other guys who were there. I did see the bullet holes later in the cars. First I went behind a tire and then looked under the body of the car. I've been trained how to respond to gunfire...but with my own weapon. To have no weapon I don't know how to explain what that felt like. I hadn't run away and stayed because I had thought about the consequences or anything like that. I wasn't thinking anything through.

Please understand, there was no intention. I was just staying there because I didn't think about running. It never occurred to me that he might shoot me. Until he started shooting in my direction and I realized I was unarmed. Then the female cop came around the corner. He shot her. (according to the news accounts she got a round into him. I believe it, I just didn't see it. he didn't go down.) She went down.

He starts reloading. He's fiddling with his mags. Weirdly he hasn't dropped the one that was in his weapon. He's holding the fresh one and the old one (you do that on the range when time is not of the essence but in combat you would just let the old mag go). I see the male cop around the left corner of the building. (I'm about 15-20 meters from the shooter.) I yell at the cop, "He's reloading, he's reloading. Shoot him! Shoot him!) You have to understand, everything was quiet at this point. The cop appears to hear me and comes around the corner and shoots the shooter. He goes down. The cop kicks his weapon farther away.

I sprinted to the downed female cop. Another captain (I think he was with me behind the cars) came up as well. She's bleeding profusely out of her thigh. We take our belts off and tourniquet her just like we've been trained (I hope we did it right...we didn't have any CLS (combat lifesaver) bags with their awesome tourniquets on us, so we worked with what we had).

Meanwhile, in the most bizarre moment of the day, a photographer was standing over us taking pictures. I suppose I'll be seeing those tomorrow. Then a soldier came up and identified himself as a medic. I then realized her weapon was lying there unsecured (and on "fire" position). I stood over it and when I saw a cop yelled for him to come over and secure her weapon (I would have done so but I was worried someone would mistake me for a bad guy).

I then went over to the shooter. He was unconscious. A Lt Colonel was there and had secured his primary weapon for the time being. He also had a revolver. I couldn't believe he was one of ours. I didn't want to believe it. Then I saw his name and rank and realized this wasn't just some specialist with mental issues.

At this point there was a guy there from CID and I asked him if he knew he was the shooter and had him secured. He said he did. I then went to the medical SRP building. No human should ever have to see what that looked like. and I won't tell you. Just believe me. Please. there was nothing to be done there.

Someone then said there was someone critically wounded around the corner. I ran around (while seeing this floor to ceiling window that someone had jumped through movie style) and saw a large African-American soldier lying on his back with two or three soldiers attending. I ran up and identified two entrance wounds on the right side of his stomach, one exit wound on the left side and one head wound. He was not bleeding externally from the stomach wounds (though almost certainly internally) but was bleeding from the head wound. A soldier was using a shirt to try and stop the head bleeding.

He was conscious so I began talking to him to keep him so. He was 42, from North Carolina, he was named something Jr., his son was named something III and he had a daughter as well. His children lived with him. He was divorced. I told him the blubber on his stomach saved his life. He smiled. A young soldier in civvies showed up and identified himself as a combat medic. We debated whether to put him on the back of a pickup truck. A doctor (well, an audiologist) showed up and said you can't move him, he has a head wound. So we finally sat tight.

I went back to the slaughterhouse. They weren't letting anyone in there, not even medics. Finally, after about 45 minutes had elapsed some cops showed up in tactical vests. someone said the TBI building was unsecured. They headed into there. All of a sudden a couple more shots were fired. People shouted there was a second shooter. A half hour later the SWAT showed up. there was no second shooter. That had been an impetuous cop apparently. but that confused things for a while. Meanwhile I went back to the shooter. the female cop had been taken away. A medic was pumping plasma into the shooter. I'm not proud of this but I went up to her and said "this is the shooter, is there anyone else who needs attention... do them first". She indicated everyone else living was attended to. I still hadn't seen any EMTs or ambulances. I had so much blood on me that people kept asking me if I was ok. but that was all other people's blood.

Eventually (an hour and a half to two hours after the shootings) they started landing choppers. They took out the big African American guy and the shooter. I guess the ambulatory wounded were all at the SRP building. Everyone else in my area was dead.

I suppose the emergency responders were told there were multiple shooters. I heard that was the delay with the choppers (they were all civilian helicopters) . they needed a secure LZ. But other than the initial cops who did everything right, I didnt' see a lot of them for a while.

I did see many a soldier rush out to help their fellows/sisters. There was one female soldier, I dont' know her name or rank but I would recognize her anywhere. She was everywhere helping people. A couple people, mainly civilians, were hysterical, but only a couple. One civilian freaked out when I tried to comfort her when she saw my uniform. I guess she had seen the shooter up close.

A lot of soldiers were rushing out to help even when we thought there was another gunman out there. This Army is not broken no matter what the pundits say. Not the Army I saw.
>
They kept me for a long time. Oh, and perhaps the most surreal thing, at 1500 (the end of the workday on Thursdays) when the bugle sounded we all came to attention and saluted the flag... in the middle of it all.

This is what I saw. It can't have been real. But this is my small corner of what happened.
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Old 11-09-2009, 05:46 PM   #2
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Wow. Thankfully you weren't harmed and you were able to help those that were in need. Thank you for taking the time to tell us what happened,
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Old 11-09-2009, 06:47 PM   #3
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Thank God your OK fedupdon. Keep in mind if you ever need to talk to someone you have alot of friends here.
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Old 11-09-2009, 10:08 PM   #4
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Fedupdon " Thank You "
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Old 11-09-2009, 10:29 PM   #5
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I don't know what to tell you after something like that other than thank god you weren't hit and there are allot of veterans on G&G that would be honored to chat with you if you need someone outside your circle to talk to.
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Old 11-09-2009, 10:51 PM   #6
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Stay the course. Remember who you are. I'll be praying for you.
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Old 11-09-2009, 11:57 PM   #7
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good work sir. thank you for letting us know what happened. this is a terrible tragedy.
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Old 11-10-2009, 12:02 AM   #8
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I hope to offend no one or derail this thread. If the mods think my post is inappropriate please feel free to remove it.

Fedupdon suggested the media in their efforts to get something on the air didn't have all the facts. He's shed some light on us and I am grateful. The following article is from the NY Post and it is pretty hard hitting. The first sentence is a real attention getter. I was wondering if fedupdon could look shed any light on this editorial and possibly confirm or deny some of the information. If ANY portion of it is true it sickens me that this individual was in the US Military.
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From the NY Post:

NY Post Editorial

Call This Horror by Its Name: Islamist Terror
By Ralph Peters
November 7, 2009

On Thursday afternoon, a radicalized Muslim US Army officer shouting, "Allahu akbar!" ("God is great!") committed the worst act of terror on American soil since 9/11. And no one wants to call it an act of terror or associate it with Islam.
What cowards we are. Political correctness killed those patriotic Americans at Fort Hood as surely as the Islamist gunman did. And the media treat it like a case of nondenominational shoplifting.
This was a terrorist act. When an extremist plans and executes a murderous plot against our unarmed soldiers to protest our efforts to counter Islamist fanatics, it's an act of terror. Period.
When the terrorist posts anti-American hate speech on the Web; apparently praises suicide bombers and uses his own name; loudly criticizes US policies; argues (as a psychiatrist, no less) with his military patients over the worth of their sacrifices; refuses, in the name of Islam, to be photographed with female colleagues; lists his nationality as "Palestinian" in a Muslim spouse-matching program and parades around central Texas in a fundamentalist playsuit -- well, it only seems fair to call this terrorist an "Islamist terrorist."
But the president won't. Despite his promise to get to all the facts. Because there's no such thing as "Islamist terrorism" in ObamaWorld.
And the Army won't. Because its senior leaders are so sick with political correctness that pandering to America haters is safer than calling terrorism "terrorism."
And the media won't. Because they have more interest in the shooter than in our troops -- despite their crocodile tears.
Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan planned this terrorist attack and executed it in cold blood. The resulting massacre was the first tragedy. The second was that he wasn't killed on the spot.
Hasan survived. Now the rest of us will have to foot his massive medical bills. Activist lawyers will get involved, claiming "harassment" drove him temporarily insane. There'll be no end of trial delays. At best, taxpayer dollars will fund his prison lifestyle for decades to come, since our politically correct Army leadership wouldn't dare pursue or carry out the death penalty.
Maj. Hasan will be a hero to Islamist terrorists abroad and their sympathizers here. While US Muslim organizations decry his acts publicly, Hasan will be praised privately. And he'll have the last laugh.
But Hasan isn't the sole guilty party. The US Army's unforgivable political correctness is also to blame for the casualties at Fort Hood.
Given the myriad warning signs, it's appalling that no action was taken against a man apparently known to praise suicide bombers and openly damn US policy. But no officer in his chain of command, either at Walter Reed Army Medical Center or at Fort Hood, had the guts to take meaningful action against a dysfunctional soldier and an incompetent doctor.
Had Hasan been a Lutheran or a Methodist, he would've been gone with the simoom. But officers fear charges of discrimination when faced with misconduct among protected minorities.
Now 12 soldiers and a security guard lie dead. At least 38 people were wounded, 28 of them seriously. If heads don't roll in this maggot's chain of command, the Army will have shamed itself beyond moral redemption.
There's another important issue, too. How could the Army allow an obviously incompetent and dysfunctional psychiatrist to treat our troubled soldiers returning from war? An Islamist wacko is counseled for arguing with veterans who've been assigned to his care? And he's not removed from duty? What planet does the Army live on?
For the first time since I joined the Army in 1976, I'm ashamed of its dereliction of duty. The chain of command protected a budding terrorist who was waving one red flag after another. Because it was safer for careers than doing something about him.
Get ready for the apologias. We've already heard from the terrorist's family that "he's a good American." In their world, maybe he is.
But when do we, the American public, knock off the PC nonsense?
A disgruntled Muslim soldier murdered his officers way back in 2003, in Kuwait, on the eve of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Recently? An American mullah shoots it out with the feds in Detroit. A Muslim fanatic attacks an Arkansas recruiting station. A Muslim media owner, after playing the peace card, beheads his wife. A Muslim father runs over his daughter because she's becoming too Westernized.
Muslim terrorist wannabes are busted again and again. And we're assured that "Islam's a religion of peace."
I guarantee you that the Obama administration's nonresponse to the Fort Hood attack will mock the memory of our dead.
Ralph Peters' latest novel is "The War After Armageddon."

Read more: Call this horror by its name: Islamist terror
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Old 11-10-2009, 12:14 AM   #9
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Fedupon Sir,
Your story brought chills and Tears to My eyes and I Salute you for your Heroic actions under fire...God Bless You !
Rich
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Old 11-10-2009, 12:32 AM   #10
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Smile

fedupon, God Bless you for your actions that day, and God Bless you for your service.

i can only imagine what it was like there. stay safe always.
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Old 11-10-2009, 12:40 AM   #11
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thankyou for posting fedupdon.

It is certainly a chilling account to read. I can't imagine the horrors that you and your fellow soldiers witnessed that day. I hope i never have to.
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Old 11-10-2009, 12:58 AM   #12
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Thank you for your post and thank you for sharing some trauma that was in your life. Your shouting at the cop that he was reloading was key in stopping the shooting. I believed that this has saved lives. You did good, you did really good. Thank you.
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Old 11-10-2009, 01:03 AM   #13
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Well done Soldier. I salute you and your fellow soldiers.

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Old 11-10-2009, 02:53 AM   #14
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God bless and keep you Fedupon. I am overwhelmed with emotion. God bless all who helped the wounded and dying that awful day.
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Old 11-10-2009, 03:07 AM   #15
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Thank you and your fellow soldiers for your service and sacrifice. God bless you.
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Old 11-10-2009, 03:10 AM   #16
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I made a hard copy of this in case anything happens to the thread and anyone still needs to know.
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Old 11-10-2009, 08:13 AM   #17
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Fedupon, you said you hoped you did the right thing taking care of the lady cop and others. You did. You used the two most important lifesaving tools you have, your head and your hands. I was an EMT doing crash rescue for several years. One thing we learned was that many times, if you do nothing, they will die and, if you do something, they might live. You did something. You did good. Be proud of yourself.
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Old 11-10-2009, 08:22 AM   #18
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We had a Commanders call with awards ceromony Saturday. I couldn't help not to keep my head on the usual swivel. Iv'e always fallen in at the reaar to keep an eye on my troops. We had the usual EMT's from the fire house for the one who may ocassionally lock up thie knees and fall out of formation. We also had armed guards from SF. Sad state of affairs. My condolances and prayers go out to your troops.
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Old 11-10-2009, 09:16 AM   #19
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fedupdon, thank you for the insight into the attack at Ft. Hood. What you did in response during the attack was nothing less than heroic. Your actions helped to save the lives of your fellow brothers and sisters in arms. Some act when pressed ... you did and performed superbly.

Remember, we are only human ... when and if you want to talk more (get it out) ... we're here for you.

Godspeed brother ...

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Old 11-10-2009, 10:25 AM   #20
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It just seems that an armed troop or two at large assembly areas discreetly in the back ground might be of some help in these troubled times?
You see them wandering around airports.
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