Timothy L. Hale
Army Reserve Public Affairs
FORT HOOD, Texas – Thousands turned out for a memorial service today to honor the 12 Soldiers and one Department of the Army civilian gunned down last week at this U.S. Army post in Central Texas.
Of those 13, five were Army Reserve Soldiers. Lt. Col. Juanita L. Warman, 55, Harve de Grace, Md.; Maj. Libardo Caraveo, 52, Woodbridge, Va.; Capt. John P. Gaffaney, 54, San Diego, Calif., Capt. Russell Seager, 51, Racine, Wis., and Sgt. Amy Krueger, 29, Kiel, Wis.; were among those slain at the Soldier Readiness Processing Center at Fort Hood on Thursday, Nov. 5., 2009.
President Barak Obama denounced the “twisted logic” that lead to the tragedy.
“No faith justifies these murderous and craven acts; no just and loving God looks upon them with favor,” Obama told the estimated crowd of over 10,000. “And for what he has done, we know that the killer will be met with justice – in this world and the next.”
During his speech, the Commander-in-Chief called each of the 13 by name, citing anecdotes of their lives, their hopes, their dreams and their aspirations.
He described the fallen not as victims but as husbands, fathers, immigrants, scholars, and veterans of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Obama also praised those who rushed to the aid of the fallen and the wounded, citing the efforts of law enforcement, medical personnel and other Soldiers who prevented further loss of life.
“Their lives speak to the strength, the dignity, the decency of those who serve, and that's how they will be remembered,” he said.
“For that same spirit is embodied in the community here at Fort Hood, and in the many wounded who are still recovering. As was already mentioned, in those terrible minutes during the attack, Soldiers made makeshift tourniquets out of their clothes. They braved gunfire to reach the wounded, and ferried them to safety in the backs of cars and a pickup truck.”
In closing, the President said, “Long after they are laid to rest – when the fighting has finished, and our nation has endured; when today’s servicemen and women are veterans, and their children have grown – it will be said that this generation believed under the most trying of tests; believed in perseverance – not just when it was easy, but when it was hard; that they paid the price and bore the burden to secure this nation, and stood up for the values that live in the hearts of all free peoples.”
“So we say goodbye to those who now belong to eternity. We press ahead in pursuit of the peace that guided their service.”
After the service, the president, accompanied by his wife, Michelle, paid their respects in front of each display honoring the fallen, placing a presidential coin by each framed photograph.
Members of the 467th Medical Detachment in Madison, Wis. watched the service on television. Caraveo, Seager and Krueger were members of the unit.
“It was very moving and very respectful,” said Spc. Bryan Rayborn, a mental health specialist with the 467th, who lives in Waukesha, Wis. “I saw our unit flag, and our people were close enough in the (camera) that you we could identify them. They had the traditional rifle down with boots and Kevlar. The roll call [of the names of the fallen] was rough to listen to, but I'm glad they did it.”
Sgt. Kara Hurtig, a mental health technician from Janesville, Wis. said, “I was really glad they did something like that for them, to give them some closure.”
Rayborn agreed, “Closure is definitely the biggest part, so you don't have it weighing on you the whole deployment.”
