Kev sib tua nyob Texas raug ib tug tub Hmoob.
dekfangkhong
raug rau yawg tus tub uas yog Kham Xiong. Thov tswv ntuj pab rau
yawg tsev neeg rau lub caij raug kev nyuaj siab no.
Fort victims had different reasons for enlisting
The 13 people killed when an Army psychiatrist allegedly opened
fire on fellow soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas, included a pregnant woman
who was preparing to return home, a man who quit a furniture company
job to join the military about a year ago, a newlywed who had served
in Iraq and a woman who had vowed to take on Osama bin Laden after the
Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Here is a look at some of the victims.
___
Francheska Velez
Velez, 21, of Chicago, was pregnant and preparing to return home. A
friend of Velez's, Sasha Ramos, described her as a fun-loving person
who wrote poetry and loved dancing.
"She was like my sister," Ramos, 21, said. "She was the most fun and
happy person you could know. She never did anything wrong to anybody."
Family members said Velez had recently returned from deployment in
Iraq and had sought a lifelong career in the Army.
"She was a very happy girl and sweet," said her father, Juan Guillermo
Velez, his eyes red from crying. "She had the spirit of a child."
Ramos, who also served briefly in the military, couldn't reconcile
that her friend was killed in this country — just after leaving a war
zone.
"It makes it a lot harder," she said. "This is not something a soldier
expects — to have someone in our uniform go start shooting at us."
___
Pfc. Aaron Thomas Nemelka
Nemelka, 19, of the Salt Lake City suburb of West Jordan, Utah, chose
to join the Army instead of going on a mission for The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints, his uncle Christopher Nemelka said.
"As a person, Aaron was as soft and kind and as gentle as they come, a
sweetheart," his uncle said. "What I loved about the kid was his
independence of thought."
Aaron Nemelka, the youngest of four children, was scheduled to be
deployed to Afghanistan in January, his family said in a statement.
Nemelka had enlisted in the Army in October 2008, Utah National Guard
Lt. Col. Lisa Olsen said.
___
Pfc. Michael Pearson
Pearson, 21, of the Chicago suburb of Bolingbrook, Ill., quit what he
figured was a dead-end furniture company job to join the military
about a year ago.
"He felt he was in a rut. He wanted to travel, see the world," his
mother, Sheryll Pearson, told the Chicago Tribune. "He also wanted an
opportunity to serve the country."
At Pearson's family home Friday, a yellow ribbon was tied to a porch
light and a sticker stamped with American flags on the front door
read, "United we stand."
Neighbor Jessica Koerber, who was with Pearson's parents when they
received word Thursday their son had died, described him as a man who
clearly loved his family — someone who enjoyed horsing around with his
nieces and nephews, and other times playing his guitar.
"That family lost their gem," she told the AP. "He was a great kid, a
great guy. ... Mikey was one of a kind."
Sheryll Pearson said she hadn't seen her son for a year because he had
been training. She told the Tribune that when she last talked to him
on the phone two days ago, they had discussed how he would come home
for Christmas.
___
Spc. Jason Dean Hunt
Hunt, 22, of Frederick, Okla., went into the military after graduating
from Tipton High School in 2005 and had gotten married just two months
ago, his mother, Gale Hunt, said. He had served 3 1/2 years in the
Army, including a stint in Iraq.
Gale Hunt said two uniformed soldiers came to her door late Thursday
night to notify her of her son's death.
Hunt, known as J.D., was "just kind of a quiet boy and a good kid,
very kind," said Kathy Gray, an administrative assistant at Tipton
Schools.
His mother said he was family oriented.
"He didn't go in for hunting or sports," Gale Hunt said. "He was a
very quiet boy who enjoyed video games."
He had re-enlisted for six years after serving his initial two-year
assignment, she said. Jason Hunt was previously stationed at Fort
Stewart in Georgia.
___
Sgt. Amy Krueger
Krueger, 29, of Kiel, Wis., joined the Army after the 2001 terrorist
attacks and had vowed to take on Osama bin Laden, her mother, Jeri
Krueger said.
Amy Krueger arrived at Fort Hood on Tuesday and was scheduled to be
sent to Afghanistan in December, the mother told the Herald Times
Reporter of Manitowoc.
Jeri Krueger recalled telling her daughter that she could not take on
bin Laden by herself.
"Watch me," her daughter replied.
Kiel High School Principal Dario Talerico told The Associated Press
that Krueger graduated from the school in 1998 and had spoken at least
once to local elementary school students about her career.
"I just remember that Amy was a very good kid, who like most kids in a
small town are just looking for what their next step in life was going
to be and she chose the military," Talerico said. "Once she got into
the military, she really connected with that kind of lifestyle and was
really proud to serve her country."
___
Kham Xiong
Kham Xiong, 23, of St. Paul, Minn., graduated from Community of Peace
Academy in 2004.
"The sad part is that he had been taught and been trained to protect
and to fight. Yet it's such a tragedy that he did not have the
opportunity to protect himself and the base," his father, Chor Xiong,
told KSTP-TV through an interpreter.
Xiong's 17-year-old brother, Robert, described Kham as "the family
clown, just a real good outgoing guy."
Community of Peace Academy Principal Tim McGowan told the AP that Chor
Xiong informed the charter school of his son's death. Family members
picked up pictures of Xiong on Friday for a memorial service, McGowan
said.
"He was just a well-rounded individual with a great personality. He
was very fun-loving, one who brought a smile to everyone's face he
came across," McGowan said.
___
Associated Press writers Amy Forliti in St. Paul, Minn., Jennifer
Dobner in Salt Lake City, Richard Green in Oklahoma City and Sophia
Tareen, Michael Tarm and Amy Shafer in Chicago contributed to this
report. Rousseau contributed from Bolingbrook, Ill., and Imrie from
Wausau, Wis.