By COL (Dr.) Kathy Platoni
Via Lemonwire.com
February 9, 2018
The 8th anniversary of the Fort Hood Massacre has come and gone. Save for the awarding of the Purple Hearts to the wounded and the families of the fallen in 2015, nothing has changed. Thirteen Soldiers and one Army retiree are still dead. Thirty-three of the wounded are still among the forgotten. Seven of the wounded and the survivors have taken their own lives. There will be more. Medical disabilities and other entitlements due those wounded and killed in action are being denied the wounded because Nidal Hasan is not an enemy of the state and the because the Fort Hood Massacre is still not an act of domestic terrorism.
After 8 years of everlasting shattered lives and misery, even into the new presidential administration, the Fort Hood Massacre is still considered no more than an act of workplace violence, perpetrated by a disgruntled employee. This continues to be a national disgrace and an assault on anyone who has ever donned the uniform. Per Dr. Kate Burch, the disgraceful manipulation of the facts surrounding this event, all for political purposes, is a blot on our country’s honor that must be redressed. There are no accidental falsehoods here. This is plainly and simply, an egregious and despicable coverup of the truths and a five-year trail of evidence that the FBI, the Department of Defense, and the Department of the Army ignored and overlooked preceding the massacre. At the very least, they were wholly aware of the terrorist in their midst, yet these governmental agencies never bothered to communicate with one another or to apprehend this assassin when they had every conceivable opportunity to do so.
This is only a small fragment of the enormous assaults and countless broken promises that continue to plague the wounded, the survivors, and the families of the fallen, more than eight years after the fact. As a survivor of the Fort Hood Massacre, I have labored endlessly to right this ship, but my unceasing efforts have gone nowhere. Nineteen Congresspersons have failed to respond to date. In fact, I have been threatened to remain silent and called mentally ill by Senator Kaine’s office with respect to the massacre; this after this office requesting every document available pertaining to this mass shooting and offering undying promises to assist. This is not even a veiled threat. Of course, not one iota of help ever arrived. The same doors continue to be slammed in our faces, with absolutely no hope of resolution. Hope has run out for those of us who survived the largest mass shooting on any military installation in US history, leaving suicide as the only viable option for some who have given up and whose despair has come to suffocate them. God, the United States of America, the Department of Defense, and the Department of the Army have continued to turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to the victims of the largest mass shooting in the history of this country. These are no less than acts of treason.
Judicial Watch’s “The Forgotten Soldier” is the first installment of a full expose about the hidden truths surrounding the Fort Hood Massacre. Mr. Howard Berry, father of the single wounded in action victim of the Fort Hood Massacre denied the Purple Heart Medal, SSG Joshua Berry, and I have labored unceasingly to obtain the long overdue recognition deserved by the victims and the benefits due them and their families. This 9-minute documentary chronicles the raw and disturbing facts leading up to the suicide of this young Soldier 5 years ago. Please join us in seeking justice by viewing this documentary and be willing pass it along to others so that they will be sufficiently compelled to join us in demanding the same for those who gave and continue to give the last full measure of devotion to our country.
While this national tragedy occurred 8 years ago, medical disability payments are still being denied the wounded because the shooter, Nidal Hasan, is not deemed an enemy of the state. The Fort Hood Massacre is not considered an act of domestic terrorism. There have been 7 suicides, per Mr. Berry, among the wounded and the survivors. Throughout the course of the last 5 years, more than 19 Congresspersons have been contacted for assistance and intervention on behalf of the wounded and the families of the fallen and all of them have failed to respond to our pleas. This is purely contemptible. Though the Purple Heart Medal was awarded to the 33 Soldiers and 13 KIA in 2015, the requisite benefits that accompany the Purple Heart have not. Furthermore, those who received other than gunshot wounds received nothing.
We remember only the name of the shooter. These are the names never to be forgotten.
The 13 Fatalities
PA Michael Grant Cahill, US Army (Retired), 62, of Cameron, TX
MAJ Libardo Eduardo Caraveo, 52, of Woodbridge, VA
SSG Justin DeCrow, 32, of Plymouth, IN
Captain John Paul Gaffaney, 54, of San Diego, CA
SPC Frederick Greene, 29, of Mountain City, TN
SPC Jason Dean Hunt, 22, of Tillman, OK
SSG Amy Krueger, 29, of Kiel, WI
PFC Aaron Thomas Nemelka, 19, of West Jordan, UT
PFC Michael Pearson, 22, of Bolingbrook, IL
Captain Russell Seager, 51, of Racine, WI
Private Francesca Velez and Her Unborn Child, 21, of Chicago, IL
Lieutenant Colonel Juanita Warman, 55, of Havre de Grace, MD
SPC Kham Xiong, 23, of St. Paul, MN
The Wounded
(This incomplete list pertains only to those wounded by gunshot. Though others sustained other than gunshot wounds, these wounded Solidiers were not counted as victims of the Fort Hood Massacre, including SSG Joshua Berry of Cincinnati, OH, one of now 7 victims of suicide following this massacre.)
SPC James Armstrong
PVT Amber Bahr Gadlin
SGT Patrick Blue III
SPC Keara Bono Torkelson
SPC Logan Burnett
SPC Alan Carroll
CPT Dorothy Carskadon
SSG Joy Clark
SPC Matthew D. Cooke
SSG Chad Davis
PVT Mick Engnehl
PVT Joseph T. Foster
CPL Nathan Hewitt
SGT Alvin Howard
PVT Najee Hull
SSG Eric Williams Jackson
PVT Justin Johnson
SSG Alonzo Lunsford
SSG Shawn Manning
SSG Paul Martin
2LT Brandy Mason
SPC Grant Moxon
SGT Kimberly Munley, Fort Hood Civilian Police
SSG Thuan Nguyen
SGT John Pagel
MAJ Randy Royer
SPC Dayna Ferguson Roscoe
Chief Warrant Officer Chris Royal
PVT Raymondo Saucedo
SPC George O. Stratton III
SGT Miguel Valdivia
SSG Patrick Ziegler
*(Military ranks were current at the time of the Fort Hood Massacre and do not include the shooter among the wounded. The shooter is now a paraplegic on death row at the US Army Disciplinary Barracks, Fort Leavenworth, KS)
Please take a few minutes to watch this documentary and join us in taking action, whether active duty military, reserve forces, National Guard, civilian or simply interested in the pursuit of justice for the many victims of this tragedy.