Emotions - strong, tears, thankfulness, amazed, why, sad
Patriotism - training - all pulled together to save lives
I pray for the loss and the wounded and their families.

Greetings:

Since Nidal Malik Hasan was a Muslim openly acting as a Jihadist in support of and in sympathy with Al Qaeda and Taliban military operations, then our military casualties merit award of the Purple Heart Medal, and our civilian casualties merit award of the Defense of Freedom Medal.

So, will a misguided sense of bureaucratic "political correctness" cause those rightful awards to be denied to our domestic combat casualties at Fort Hood, Texas?

Maybe we should begin now to contact Congress and the Department of Defense in an attempt to ensure the medals are properly granted.

By the way, Fort Hood, Texas was my final active duty post in the United States Army.

I received my Honorable Discharge there on 03 December 1976, while serving as a Scout with the Seventh Cavalry.

I really enjoyed being stationed there.

Thank you.

John Robert Mallernee
Armed Forces Retirement Home
Washington, D.C. 20011-8400

the army is culpable in this tragedy. This guy gave a speech at Walter Reid justifying murder-suicide in the name of Islam. He repeatedly argued with people, including his patients, about the war. This guy should not have been allowed to be in the Army. Time to take Islam off the "protected species" list and do some profiling.

the media justifying his behavior is appalling. he didn't have post traumatic stress syndrome. He never served in a war! This guy planned the killings. He is a terrorist and needs to be executed. I say let the Texas courts deal with him so that he'll be dead in the next few years.

the brave 5' tall policewoman who took the shooter down. Wow! Great things do come in small packages!

why was anyone wasting time trying to treat Hasan's wounds? They should have been working exclusively on the victim's wounds.

This was the act of one person. There were courageous acts by many. I wish to remember the many and will never forget the horrible acts of one person. Loyalty courage, commitment and valor shines on this dark moment. Let's take time to thank these hero and to comfort those who lost loved ones. We do make choices we are personals accountable for we can choose to let this like of heroism elevate us and not let the evil of one man bring forth the evil within us.

Back in the 19th century, someone (I think it was a NYC fire chief) said that a fireman's bravest act is when he becomes a fireman, and after that everything is all in the day's work.

That sounds like the attitude of the folks at Fort Hood. None seem to want to claim the title of "hero" but all deserve it: the 60 year old physician assistant or psychiatric nurse who could be approaching or enjoying retirement but felt the need to serve; the young men and women who enlisted knowing they could go to war--overseas, not in Texas; the soldiers who rescued their colleagues under fire; and the civilian police who risked their lives to stop the slaughter. They are all heroes. At least one was an immigrant and another the son of immigrants.

Captain Sullenberger, I'm sure you don't mind one bit sharing the 2009 American Hero of the Year award with these fine people.