Victims of Fort Hood.....

[ChaoticX4]

 

Fort victims had different reasons for enlisting

 

AP - Jose Rodriguez holds a photo of his granddaughter Francheska Velez in Chicago, Friday, Nov. 6, 2009. ...

 

The victims of the Fort Hood attack

 

By CARYN ROUSSEAU and ROBERT IMRIE, Associated Press Writers Caryn Rousseau And Robert Imrie, Associated Press Writers - 1 hr 28 mins ago

The 13 people killed when an Army psychiatrist allegedly opened fire on fellow soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas, included a pregnant woman who was preparing to return home, a man who quit a furniture company job to join the military about a year ago, a newlywed who had served in Iraq and a woman who had vowed to take on Osama bin Laden after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Here is a look at some of the victims.

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Francheska Velez

Velez, 21, of Chicago, was pregnant and preparing to return home. A friend of Velez's, Sasha Ramos, described her as a fun-loving person who wrote poetry and loved dancing.

"She was like my sister," Ramos, 21, said. "She was the most fun and happy person you could know. She never did anything wrong to anybody."

Family members said Velez had recently returned from deployment in Iraq and had sought a lifelong career in the Army.

"She was a very happy girl and sweet," said her father, Juan Guillermo Velez, his eyes red from crying. "She had the spirit of a child."

Ramos, who also served briefly in the military, couldn't reconcile that her friend was killed in this country - just after leaving a war zone.

"It makes it a lot harder," she said. "This is not something a soldier expects - to have someone in our uniform go start shooting at us."

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Pfc. Aaron Thomas Nemelka

Nemelka, 19, of the Salt Lake City suburb of West Jordan, Utah, chose to join the Army instead of going on a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, his uncle Christopher Nemelka said.

"As a person, Aaron was as soft and kind and as gentle as they come, a sweetheart," his uncle said. "What I loved about the kid was his independence of thought."

Aaron Nemelka, the youngest of four children, was scheduled to be deployed to Afghanistan in January, his family said in a statement. Nemelka had enlisted in the Army in October 2008, Utah National Guard Lt. Col. Lisa Olsen said.

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Pfc. Michael Pearson

Pearson, 21, of the Chicago suburb of Bolingbrook, Ill., quit what he figured was a dead-end furniture company job to join the military about a year ago.

"He felt he was in a rut. He wanted to travel, see the world," his mother, Sheryll Pearson, told the Chicago Tribune. "He also wanted an opportunity to serve the country."

At Pearson's family home Friday, a yellow ribbon was tied to a porch light and a sticker stamped with American flags on the front door read, "United we stand."

Neighbor Jessica Koerber, who was with Pearson's parents when they received word Thursday their son had died, described him as a man who clearly loved his family - someone who enjoyed horsing around with his nieces and nephews, and other times playing his guitar.

"That family lost their gem," she told the AP. "He was a great kid, a great guy. ... Mikey was one of a kind."

Sheryll Pearson said she hadn't seen her son for a year because he had been training. She told the Tribune that when she last talked to him on the phone two days ago, they had discussed how he would come home for Christmas.

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Spc. Jason Dean Hunt

Hunt, 22, of Frederick, Okla., went into the military after graduating from Tipton High School in 2005 and had gotten married just two months ago, his mother, Gale Hunt, said. He had served 3 1/2 years in the Army, including a stint in Iraq.

Gale Hunt said two uniformed soldiers came to her door late Thursday night to notify her of her son's death.

Hunt, known as J.D., was "just kind of a quiet boy and a good kid, very kind," said Kathy Gray, an administrative assistant at Tipton Schools.

His mother said he was family oriented.

"He didn't go in for hunting or sports," Gale Hunt said. "He was a very quiet boy who enjoyed video games."

He had re-enlisted for six years after serving his initial two-year assignment, she said. Jason Hunt was previously stationed at Fort Stewart in Georgia.

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Sgt. Amy Krueger

Krueger, 29, of Kiel, Wis., joined the Army after the 2001 terrorist attacks and had vowed to take on Osama bin Laden, her mother, Jeri Krueger said.

Amy Krueger arrived at Fort Hood on Tuesday and was scheduled to be sent to Afghanistan in December, the mother told the Herald Times Reporter of Manitowoc.

Jeri Krueger recalled telling her daughter that she could not take on bin Laden by herself.

"Watch me," her daughter replied.

Kiel High School Principal Dario Talerico told The Associated Press that Krueger graduated from the school in 1998 and had spoken at least once to local elementary school students about her career.

"I just remember that Amy was a very good kid, who like most kids in a small town are just looking for what their next step in life was going to be and she chose the military," Talerico said. "Once she got into the military, she really connected with that kind of lifestyle and was really proud to serve her country."

 

 

In this combo, victims killed during a shooting at Fort Hood, Texas on Nov. 5, 2009 are shown. From top left, Spc. Jason Dean Hunt, 22, of Frederick, Okla., Sgt. Amy Krueger, 29, of Kiel, Wis., Pfc. Aaron Thomas Nemelka, 19, of West Jordan, Utah, Pfc. Michael Pearson, 21, of Bolingbrook, Ill., Russell Seager, 51, of Racine, Wis. and Francheska Velez, 21, of Chicago

[Tanya_D]

Bump to read later. :( 

[CariO.]

So tragic...

[elena.1122]

Quoting Tanya_D:

Bump to read later. :( 

[RissaBusch]

I saw this on yahoo.  Very sad. :-(  My heart goes out to the familes 

[mmtosam06]

:(:(:( hugs to all the families cause yes i live 30-45 minutes away from Ft Hood 

[luvbeinamomof3]

It really hits hard when the faces and the stories of the fallen are revealed....so sad!

[ChaoticX4]

 

This 2003 picture provided by the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences shows Nidal Malik Hasan in his graduation photo when he completed his M.D. degree.(AP

 

The 2007 picture provided by the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences shows Nidal Malik Hasan when he entered the program for his Disaster and Military Psychiatry Fellowship

[ChaoticX4]

 

Kimberly Munley of Killeen Texas is seen in a 1999 photo provided by Cape Fear, NC, Commity College. Munley graduated in 1999 from Cape Fear Community College's Basic Law Enforcement program, according to David Hardin, a public information officer for the college. Munley, has been hailed a hero by Fort Hood base commander Lt. Gen. Robert Cone, who credited her Friday, Nov. 6, 2009 with bringing the massacre to an end and saving an untold number of lives when she shot the Fort Hood assailant.

[brandneweyes]

It's sad enough that any of these people were killed, but it's even worse to know that a mother-to-be and her unborn child were killed as well...

[ChaoticX4]

 

In this undated photo provided by Dave Moxon, Army Reserve Spc. Grant Moxon of Lodi, Wis. is shown. Moxon was wounded in the leg during the shootings at Fort Hood, Texas on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2009