My Memories of Fort Hood

[stephinrome]

When I read of the tragedy at Fort Hood in my home state of Texas, where a soldier killed 13 of his fellow troops and wounded 30, I couldn't help thinking of my brief experience at the base.

It was the summer of 2006. I was in Crawford, Texas, home to Bush's ranch and Camp Casey, the activist campout organized by Cindy Sheehan who lost her son in Iraq. It was the second year for Camp Casey. But this time, Bush had chosen to spend his holidays elsewhere, leaving us with more free time.

Fort Hood, the largest army base in the U.S., where most soldiers heading off to war pass through, is an hour and a half from Crawford. We decided to go there to give information to members of the military. With us were veterans of the war in Iraq and we had leaflets from the GI Rights Hotline, an association that provides counseling to soldiers, including information on how to get out of the military.

We set up about a hundred meters from the entrance during evening rush hour as soldiers left the base. I expected to find myself in a hostile environment, but that's not the way it turned out.

We had signs with a very simple message, "You don't have to go." It was enough to cause many soldiers to stop for more information, even in uniform, violating the military code and in sight of the guards at the entrance to the base. Some drove by in their cars and flashed us the peace sign. Others stopped just long enough to jot down the toll free number for the GI Rights Hotline written in large letters on the side of our van. Spouses, mothers and fathers of soldiers stopped to get material to take home.

Fort Hood has the highest suicide rate of all U.S. bases. Nidal M. Hasan, the soldier who killed his fellow troops, had spent six years, from 2003 to 2009, as a psychiatrist at Walter Reed military hospital in Washington treating soldiers with post-traumatic stress syndrome. He was soon set to deploy to Iraq.

Over three years have passed since I was at Fort Hood. At the time, the Republicans controlled the House, the Senate and the White House. Now the Democrats have the majority. But I feel certain that if I were to go stand in front of the base with the same sign, the scene of three years ago would repeat itself.

Stephanie Westbrook

[murielm99]

1. Thank you for this compassionate, informative post. n/t

[Hepburn]

2. Thank you. KNR n/t

[sammytko]

3. I remember Ft. Hood back in th 70s

my brother was a company commander and we'd visit every so often. My father was very proud of him and so was I. My father grew up as a very poor mexican immigrant in deep s. texas. During the Depression they cleared acreage for 7 dollars an acre. Lived on chicken eggs and beans and corn tortillas. For him, seeing my brother - his oldest son - a commisioned officer was amazing.

[unhappycamper]

4. My memories are slightly different.

I was assigned to Ft. Hood after I rotated back from Turkey in late 1966.

At the time I was a 31J (teletype repair) and I reupped for a blast of six years ($10K bonus) and changed my MOS to 31E (field radio repair). At first I was assigned to the school's repair shop which was good duty.

Then LBJ decided to 'surge' Vietnam; Ft. Hood was tasked with coming up with bodies to send to the meat grinder. I lost my cushy job with the Training Center and was assigned to the newly stood up 198th Light Infantry brigade of the newly reincorporated Americal Division.

198th LIB patch --> http://www.airborne-ranger.com/~brizendine/198th,libgif.gif Americal patch -->


We screwed around training for a few months and got the order to move out.

They put us on a train to Oakland (that was a 'fun' ride).

After a week or so in Oakland, they put us on a troop ship to Vietnam. We hit 40 foot swells about 400 miles north of Hawaii. I puked my brains out all the way to Okinawa. I still won't get on a large ship on the open ocean.

[stephinrome]

7. Decidedly different! Thanks for sharing n/t

[Zywiec]

5. What military code were they violating by stopping and talking to you?

I didn't know there was a restriction on the military. Can you explain?

Thanks.

[stephinrome]

6. Technically, what we were doing would be called...

...a protest. We were assembled on a street corner with signs. Military personnel can participate in protests in the U.S. (not abroad!) as long as they are off duty and not in uniform. If commanding officer had wanted to make trouble for the soldiers who stopped, they could have.

[Zywiec]

8. Thanks for the clarification.

:hi: