Mourning

Friday, November 6, 2009
Yesterday, my brothers and sisters-in-arms at Fort Hood, Texas, were exposed to that most heinous of betrayals: They were attacked by one of their own in an incident that leaves 13 dead and 30 wounded, including the alleged perpetrator, Major Nidal M. Hasan, an Army psychiatrist.

I'm a civilian now, but I still consider myself to be a member of the community that is the Armed Forces. And for me, this event is simply devastating. I don't understand how a member of our community could do such a thing. I have no insight into the motivations of Dr. Hasan, although I see that the speculation is running rampant - he was a disgruntled soldier, he was a very religious Muslim, he opposed the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Yesterday, I tried to make excuses - maybe he was mentally ill. That would certainly explain his behavior...right? Because nobody who wore the uniform would really be capable of doing such a thing without extenuating circumstances...right?

But today, I realize that to me, none of this matters. Not his education, not his religion, not his personal beliefs. He was a soldier. He took an oath, and he betrayed that oath in the worst way imaginable. The deepest pits of hell are reserved for the likes of him.

And today I mourn for my Fort Hood brothers and sisters, who have not only lost their fellow soldiers, but their innocence, as well.

7 comments:

Geek Goddess said...

I can't even stand to read the news about this. I'm not a soldier, but my grandfather, father, brother, sister-in-law, and one of my sons are military. And it happened in my state, as well.

Thordr said...

I went out today and lowered my flag to half staff, it hasnt moved out of the light in over two years. I can not really find the words to express what I feel. There are some more nasty things I could write, but those will not bring solace to those who were hurt and killed, or to those who loved them.
Hooah
KC

Steve Buchheit said...

It's one of those things where I yell excremental synonyms at the radio all along the 45 minute drive home.

On the plus side, reports are the soldiers in the room reacted quickly and professionally to the situation taking down the shooter and attending the dead and wounded, even cutting strips off their uniforms for bandages and tourniquets. And the doctors, as they realized the man on the table was the shooter, continued to put him back together.

kimby said...

I have no words.
My thoughts to all of the brave men and women and their families who have been touched by this tragedy.

nzforme said...

It's truly horrible -- it's difficult to comprehend the level of betrayal at issue here.

I can't help but hope that this brutal and cowardly act does not spawn misguided retaliatory violence.

Janiece said...

nzforme, me, too. Me, too.

Matt said...

I fully agree with all. I am gratified to see that there has not yet been a rush to judgement as to motive due to Maj. Hasan's heritage and religion. His family seems genuinely horrified by his acts and a large portion of my sympathy goes out to them. My hope is that the sanity continues and that public opinion doesn't interfere with the Army's already difficult task picking up the pieces and investigating this crime.