My dear friends....

Today's tragic events at Ft. Hood leaves me with an entrenched sadness and queasiness. When I came home and turned on the TV to find a news alert that the fine Soldiers of Ft. Hood had been evilly and sadistically attacked by none other than a fellow "Soldier," I was appalled! I use the term Soldier lightly here, as he obviously had no regard for the true meaning and service of an American Soldier. Army Officers are strong, capable, selfless individuals who serve to protect and defend our great nation. This man may have pinned Major, but he did not reflect any values that an Army officer would hold. I find him to be a disgrace to the Army, the Army Officer Corps and mankind.

I am so grateful for the safety of all of my beloved friends and family I left behind at Ft. Hood. I love you all so dearly and am sincerely grateful that Army brought you into my life.

I leave you with some thoughts from my husband:

Not all facts are know right now, but at approximately 1330 Central Standard Time, Major Nidal Malik Hasan commenced with a horrendous attack at the Soldier Readiness Center on Fort Hood, TX. This murderous act, which left at least 11 innocent people dead and many more wounded, has little rhyme or reason to it. All that is known is that Hasan was opposed to the Iraq and Afghan wars and that he was set to deploy soon.

Hasan's cousin appeard on Fox News, defending the Army Major as a "good American," a claim which seems a little hard to swallow given the facts. Major Hasan may have once been well-intentioned, but today's events are not simply the tragic aftermath of a "good American" under bad conditions. No excuses should be afforded this man.

The news made a lot of Major Hasan's rank and his job working with Soldiers returning from combat with psychological stress. That a man entrusted with helping Soldiers through the aftermath of war would then violate that trust by attacking these same Soldiers (the Soldier Readiness Center is the in-processing center for troops returning from combat or out-processing center for troops preparing to deploy) is tragic and outrageous. So too is it sickening to think that a Major in the United States Army, someone charged with protecting Soldiers, would shoot them down without mercy.

The news called this man an "Army officer" but they were mistaken. He was a major, but not an officer. Officers don't murder fellow Soldiers; officers live by an oath and a code of honor. What happened today is so far from that that it is almost impossible to fathom such dereliction of duty.

His cousin indicated that Hasan had faced criticism for his opposition to the war and his "refusal" to deploy. Let there be no mistake here, there is NO honor in refusing to do one's duty. Many consciencious objectors have served honorably in non-combatant roles (Hasan was a mental health professional). Many more consciencious objectors managed to face the consequences of their political views without gunning down a dozen innocent Soldiers.

There will be those, like Hasan's cousin, who will try to say his story is one of tragedy, but the only tragedy is that he was not stopped before he pulled the trigger.