FORT HOOD, Texas (KXXV) — Survivors of the 2009 Fort Hood mass shooting and those connected to its victims are reflecting on the attack's lasting impact following the announcement that former Army Maj. Nidal Hasan will be executed by firing squad — what would be the first military execution in more than 60 years.
The announcement was made Tuesday. The time and place of the execution still needs to be set by the Secretary of the Army.
Both women I spoke with said they want the focus to remain on the victims and the heroes of that day, not on the man responsible.
Keely Vanacker's father, Michael Cahill, lost his life in the attack while working as a physician assistant. She described the moment she realized something was wrong at Fort Hood, where her dad had worked.
"We haven't heard anything from my dad at all. You start to worry, and then at this point we're making phone calls, can't get through to him," Vanacker said.
For her, the execution announcement is not something she sees as a milestone.
"There are some people who have been ready for this to happen. For me, this is just giving a killer attention that he doesn't deserve. For me, he was already dead," Vanacker said.
She told me she would rather her father be remembered for his love and light.
"He valued everybody and treated them fairly and treated them as if they all matter because they did, and that is what you should take from this. Because when you don't value life and you don't value people. You look like Hassan, and there are too many people who are just like him who pretend they aren't," Vanacker said.
Callie Logsdon was pregnant and attending college on post when the shooting happened in 2009, her third mass shooting to experience. She told me that day she thought it was a terror attack. She and her fellow students began collecting food while soldiers planned a counterattack.
"It was kind of like just hold on to your pants and wait for everybody to find out the impact of it. It was very chaotic," Logsdon said.
she still feels the impact of the shootings today.
"It made us lose a sense of security within our own military family. Before this, you would trust somebody in uniform. After this, now it's kind of like, do I still have that same level of trust with my comrades?" Logsdon said.
Her friend Kimberly Munley was a police officer shot during the incident. Logsdon said it is Munley's bravery — and the bravery of the other soldiers who responded — that should be remembered above all.
"She was actually a police officer that was shot during this incident. It severely impacted her life. I mean, she's had multiple surgeries. Her entire life has been altered because of this... Instead of seeing him and what he did, I would rather them see Kimberly Munley and the other soldiers that responded," Logsdon said.
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