Three years ago yesterday, I was four days away from separating from the Army. I stayed in the barracks at Fort Hood while I waited for my medical records to get officially copied so I could turn them into Veterans Affairs.
A week earlier, sirens went off around the base to warn everyone about a severe thunderstorm. So on that particular Thursday morning, that's what I thought we were getting warned about.
It wasn't a thunderstorm. On the other end of Fort Hood, Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Hasan was shooting his way through the Soldier Readiness Processing (SRP) center, killing and injuring fellow soldiers who had either just returned from or were on their way to overseas deployments.
When he was done, 13 people were dead and 32 were injured. A delay in information meant parents didn't know if their children in on-post schools were safe. Quickly tightened security meant no one could get on or off post until after 8 p.m.
It was, and still is, the most deadly shooting ever to occur on a U.S. military base.
A lot has happened in with the case over the past three years. But most significantly Hasan has repeatedly delayed his trial by refusing to shave for religious reasons; the judge, Col. Gregory A. Gross, repeatedly finds him in contempt of court for failing to meet Army grooming standards.
Even though he shaved before the shootings, in August, the LA Times reported that Hasan had a premonition telling him he was close to death, and that shaving would therefore be a sin. On October 19, a panel of judges on the US Army Court of Appeals ruled he would have to shave before appearing in court, for which no new date has been set.
In the meantime, the victims are fighting to have the shooting ruled an act of terrorism. The change in designation would make the victims--including those too injured to continue serving in the military--eligible for the same benefits they'd receive if injured in battle.
The incident was referred to as a "terrorist attack" in several letters, but the Department of Defense claims changing the designation at this point could put the trial at risk.
I still feel a little guilt in being glad that I only knew one of the injured people at the SRP that day, a chief warrant officer who worked across the hall from me on my first deployment. It was a much more terrible day for so many people. Hasan's court martial needs to start so the victims and their families can get some closure.
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