November 2009 - Posts
By Mark Potter, NBC News Correspondent
KILLEEN, Texas – On a bright sunny morning, the day after the mournful memorial service for the shooting victims at Fort Hood, the mood here seemed to lift a bit, especially in downtown Killeen.
Along a parade route that ran past stores, homes and churches, cheering residents waved American flags in celebration of Veterans Day. High school marching bands, children's groups, veterans organizations, motorcycle clubs and active Army units basked in the adoration from the crowd and stepped lively to the music and rhythms of the national holiday, which is always a major event here in the city that supports Fort Hood.
But even in this crowd, it was clear that emotions are still raw just below the surface and that the sorrowful events at the base have hit home and hit hard. Most everyone we interviewed struggled with their feelings as they explained why they wanted to attend the parade to show their support. Tears flowed and voices quavered almost every time someone was nice enough to talk with us.
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By Lulu Chiang, CNBC Senior Producer
ON BOARD THE USS HARRY S.TRUMAN – Nuclear-powered and carrying up to 4,500 sailors and airmen, the USS Harry S. Truman is one of the U.S. Navy’s largest aircraft carriers.
Recently, I get a rare tour with a few others of the inner workings of this floating city from its Commanding Officer Capt. Clarkson, Executive Officer Capt. John Meier and Reactor Officer Capt. Kevin Hill.
On a typical day, there are at least 3,000 sailors who keep the ship humming, according to Clarkson. They operate the reactor plant, run the hotel, cook the meals, run the airport and do maintenance on all the critical equipment that allows planes to take off and land on the ship. In addition, there are about 1,500 airmen who do the maintenance on the planes and, of course, the flying.
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| Donald R. White Jr. / U.S. Navy |
| An MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter prepares to land on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman on Nov.8. |
"The ship is a neat machine. It has a lot of cool stuff, like the propulsion plant and all the stuff on the flight deck," said Clarkson. "But really, what makes this ship really special is the people."
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By Janet Shamlian, NBC News Correspondent
KILLEEN, Texas – Having arrived in Fort Hood from another assignment with little more than the clothes on my back, I was in Wal-Mart Saturday night looking for some basics.
Watching families walking together through the store, I was – I admit – feeling a little sorry for myself that I was away from my own family … until I had a chance to meet the young woman ahead of me in line.
She couldn't have been much older than 20 years old and was tiny all over except for her bulging tummy. It's an overused phrase, but she was glowing.
It was her first child, she explained with a smile of pure joy. The clerk asked her if her husband was as excited as she was. "He's not here," I heard her say. "Oh, is he deployed?" the clerk asked. "No, he was killed in Iraq."
It's a side of the war we don't often see. The names of the fallen get a mention – maybe – on the news, but the stories of those left behind are largely untold.
I had a chance to talk to my new Wal-Mart friend for a few minutes after we both checked out and found her remarkably reconciled with her situation. She had some family in town, she explained, and they would help her raise her son. I thought back to when my own son was born and remembered that as emotional and exhausting as those first weeks were, at least I had someone to laugh and cry about it with at the end of the day.
She didn't want any attention, and she didn't want to be on television – because, she explained, her situation wasn’t special or unusual. At least not here in Killeen. She knew a number of women who had gone through the same thing.
I’m here in Fort Hood covering a heartbreaking story, but stumbled upon this other one by chance. The death of a soldier – wherever it happens – is just the beginning of a military family’s sacrifice.
As the U.S. Army continues to search for answers about the Fort Hood shooting, NBC News' Mark Potter reports on how the tragedy has sparked a widespread security review of military bases.
By Janet Shamlian, NBC News Correspondent
FORT HOOD, Texas – The city of Killeen and Fort Hood, the military base, are almost interchangeable. Everyone who lives in the community of Killeen has something to do with the military. So shooting rampage that left at 13 dead and 30 wounded has impacted not just the military installation, but an entire Texas community.
Flags are flying at half staff here today. There is a very somber mood in town. And people are on heightened alert. Even at the hotel where we are all staying, they were taking extra security precautions. There is a heightened sense of fear in the community now.
The irony of what’s going on here is that these people who live here prepare themselves to hear about casualties that might happen to friends and loved ones overseas. But no one ever expected anything like this – deaths and bloodshed in their own community, in their own neighborhood.
"You just don’t think that these things are even possible. You know we walk around with a blanket of security knowing that our soldiers are out there fighting for our country and then something like this happens. It’s ridiculous," said Adrianna Peebles, a Killeen resident and wife of a soldier.
Everyone seems to know someone connected to the base here. In the pharmacy yesterday, the checkout person knew a soldier and knew he was about to be deployed and worried about whether or not he was OK.
"You are supposed to worry about them when they are deployed, not when they are here at home," one woman said to me.
Now it’s the soldiers who are in Iraq and Afghanistan who are calling Texas to check on someone’s safety. It’s a complete reversal of what people here are used to.
