Hope your friend is OK after going through that, wow.

I work for the VA in Waco, and we have a lot of employees who were once posted at Fort Hood or who have family members there. I can’t imagine what they…and the victims of this crime, all of those stationed at Fort Hood and their families, and the communities of Killeen and Temple are going through. I hope your friend will be okay.

assigned to 4th ID and 1st Cav. I haven’t heard from any of them. I’m glad to hear that your friend will recover, physically. The mental scars from war and traumatic events like this don’t heal quite as quickly. I encourage you to reach out to her a little more frequently in the next few weeks to remind her that she has your support and the support of the BHGP community.

are with all those affected by this tragedy.

“I feel for the Muslim members of this country who have never wanted to kill a soul but now have to catch shit for this.”

Amen. Unfortunately, there will be a rather significant part of our population who will undoubtedly be the ones who will raise eyebrows the next time they see an American Muslim soldier. Just as I imagine that there were Asian students and kids in black coats who probably felt the cold stares from fellow students at Virginia Tech and high schools across the nation following the shootings at Tech and Columbine.

I’m not an overly reglious person, but I pray for all the families affected by this and I pray for the family of the shooter. Remember, before you judge, let he who is without sin cast the first stone.

Hope all ends up well with your friend and the other victims and families.

we all have a huge amount of sympathy for the people who were wounded or killed.

It is somewhat interesting to me, that for most of American History (at least, before Vietnam), soldiers have been glorified to the point that many of us rarely think about the mental and emotional burdens they carry with them after they get home. About 99.5% of the movies and TV shows and video games about war or soldiers out there depict people who are basically killing machines, and who might have to overcome a minor wound to continue punishing the enemy. But they never break down, or show mental or emotional weakness.

This has influenced me to the point that, when I first hear a story like this, my initial reaction is “what a wuss, the dude was back home, why kill your brothers/sisters in arms?”

However, if I stop and think for a minute, I will realize that one of my own grandfathers was never really mentally the same after WWII, and I will realize that one of my aunts works for the VA and could tell me countless stories of her efforts to make sure that soldiers who need treatment (physical and mental) do get that important care.

Finally, I think about my current friends who are in Afghanistan, or who have been to Iraq, and I hope that they can find a mental and spiritual peace that allows them to lead a healthy life when they return.

So, while I want to say “I don’t feel sorry for that jerk who did the shooting,” I guess a more thoughtful response somewhat tones down that anger, but does not eliminate the depressing aspects of the story. I assume this is kind of like what the soldiers try to do when they come home: quiet the anger, and live through the depression.

Some dude is going bezerk in Orlando…

Word was that she began rendering aid to those “more severely” injured. That’s heroic.