Major Nadil Malik Hasan entered the Fort Hood Soldier Readiness Center, where soldiers who are about to be deployed or who are returning undergo medical screening, shouted 'Allahu Akbar,' and began shooting. The tragedy resulted in 13 dead, 30 wounded, with Hasan hospitalized.
The heroes hailed by Lt. General Bob Cone, who has been the Army's spokeperson during these events, were both women. That should prove an interesting bit of data for those who see woman as a detriment to our armed forces.
One of them, to be exact, was in fact a civilian, but was serving on the base as a police officer. Fort Hood police Sgt. Kimberly Munley, 34, responded within three minutes of reported gunfire Thursday afternoon, along with her partner. Despite being shot herself, Munley shot Hasan four times. Officials said Munley is in stable condition.
Kimberly Munley has a Twitter page, though it has not been updated since July. Her bio says the following: "I live a good life....a hard one, but I go to sleep peacefully @ night knowing that I may have made a difference in someone's life." Munley is pictured above with musician Dierks Bentley, in a picture from her Twitter page.
Indeed, in the case of the Fort Hood shootings, as Munley was the only one who managed to shoot Hasan, she indeed may have made a difference. She may have saved lives.
Former Carolina Beach Mayor Dennis Barbour is Munley's father, and he is making plans to travel to Fort Hood to see his daughter on Friday, as the Wilmington Star News in Wilmington, NC, reported.
Lt. Gen. Bob Cone also pointed out a female soldier. Amber Bahr, 19, an Army nutritionist, he called an "amazing young lady." Bahr treated other soldiers, including applying a tourniquet on one wounded soldier, as well as carrying him out to medics. Only after she had taken care of others did she realize she herself had been shot.
It is the case of high-stress situations such as this that sometime adrenaline prevents those injured from feeling the pain of an injury or wound. Such seems to be the case with Amber Bahr.
Bahr's mother, Lisa Pfund, told the Sheboygan Press that she spoke briefly to her daughter on Thursday night. She was "in and out of pain" and on medication but in good spirits, it was reported.
It may never be clear why Hasan took out his anger on other soldiers. Hasan, shot four times, is currently in a coma.
Posted November 6th, 2009 by Michael Santo
