Fort Hood, One Year Later

It has been one year since Major Hasan opened fire at Fort Hood.

That he’s alive is a sad result of the realities of marksmanship under fire. Aiming while bullets are hitting you isn’t as easy as movies make it look. Police Sergeant Kimberly Munley did all we could ask, and we honor her dedication and performance of duty.

That Major Nidal Hasan is not yet a convicted felon stripped of his commission and possibly awaiting execution is a condemnation of the system, in that such a seemingly obvious slam dunk has to be handled so cautiously so as to provide no excuses for this perfidious betrayer-of-trust to use to beat the system and somehow walk.

Of course, the fact that Major Hasan still had a commission and was thus able to walk into that building legitimately wearing his uniform after being saluted by fellow soldiers is a sad indictment, too. That Hasan had a chain of command who still placed an implicit trust in his “patriotism, valor, and fidelity” as evidenced by he still held his rank and position is an even greater condemnation of his various and sundry chains of command, and, as importantly, an overall command climate in the Service which contributed to and framed that failure.

Now is the time at Big Peace when we dance: In Memoriam of Mr. Michael Cahill, Major Libardo Caraveo, Staff Sergeant Justin DeCrow, Captain John Gaffaney, Specialist Frederic Greene, Specialist Jason Hunt, Staff Sergeant Amy Krueger, Private First Class Aaron Nemelka, Private First Class Michael Pearson, Captain Russel Seager, Private First Class Francheska Velez and her baby, Lieutenant Colonel Juanita Warman, and Private First Class Kham Xiong. May their families find peace in the outcome of the trial.