Rename Fort Hood After a Woman
The Army wants to rename Fort Hood, Texas, after the late Gen. Richard Cavazos, who served in Korea and Vietnam. A better candidate could be the highest-ranking casualty of a deadly battle fought right on the base.
On November 5, 2009. Lt. Col. Juanita Warman, 55, was in the Soldiers Readiness Center when shots rang out. The unarmed Warman forced an Army sergeant to the floor and out of the line of fire. He survived, but before Warman could escape, she took a bullet in the abdomen and died at the scene. The shooter, Maj. Nidal Hasan, should not have been there that day.
Hasan enlisted in the Army to defend the United States but described himself as a soldier of Allah. In training, Hasan openly supported Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda, and the Taliban. Commanding officers knew Hasan was an unprofessional psychiatrist, yet deemed him fit to counsel troops and sent him to Fort Hood.
On November 5, Maj. Hasan fired 241 rounds, killing 13 American soldiers, including Pfc. Francheska Velez, Sgt. Amy Sue Krueger, and Lt. Col. Warman. Maj. Hasan wounded more than 30 others, including Army Reserve Captain Dorothy Carskardon, and she came to the aid of Velez, who was pregnant. Hasan shot Velez through the abdomen, and her unborn child, bringing the true death count to 14.
The wounded included Sgt. Alonzo Lunsford, who took seven bullets but managed to get other soldiers out of the building. Shot twice, Chief Warrant Officer Christopher Royal ran to lock up a building where a graduation was taking place. That prevented Hasan from claiming more victims.
The Obama administration called this attack “workplace violence,” not even gun violence. The victims included African Americans, Hispanics, and Asians, but Army bosses found no trace of a hate crime or violence against women. The wounded did not get their medals until 2015 and Maj. Hasan, wounded by a civilian police officer, got better medical treatment than his victims. From his arrest in 2009 until 2013, Hasan kept his rank of major and received $278,000 in salary.
“We don’t get passes the way Major Hasan got passes,” Lunsford told the New York Times. “Each one of us has gotten a raw deal somewhere down the line.” Lunsford sought a brief audience with President Obama but in 2014 “he refused to meet us” and “didn’t come see me in the hospital.” Lt. Col. Warman was mistreated, even in death.
“Lt. Col. Warman did not lose her life to enemy fire,” explains Arlington National Cemetery. “Instead, she was one of 13 people murdered at Fort Hood, allegedly at the hands of fellow U.S. Army Officer Major Nidal Hasan.” (emphasis added)
Maj. Hasan wore an American uniform but was really an ally of foreign terrorists and the Taliban. So Lt. Col. Warman and the 13 others did lose their lives to enemy fire, and there was nothing “alleged” about it.
This was the Battle of Fort Hood. If they can summon the courage, Army commanders should rename the base after one of the casualties. Fort Warman would be a fine choice.
