KWES NewsWest 9 / Midland, Odessa, Big Spring, TX: newswest9.com | West Texas Military Community Reacts To Fort Hood Shooting

West Texas Military Community Reacts To Fort Hood Shooting

By Wyatt Goolsby
NewsWest 9

MIDLAND/ODESSA - While NewsWest 9 is still getting more information about Thursday's shooting at Fort Hood, there are many here in the Basin who are reacting to the news. On Thursday, Newswest 9 was able to catch up with members of our West Texas military community, and hear their reactions to the horrific shootings.

"There's no excuse for this. How you can turn on your brother in arms is beyond my understanding. I don't know," Dal Davis, VFW Post 4149 Commander in Midland, said.

There's still plenty of surprise, confusion, and frustration to go around after Thursday's shootings. Davis said he's used to hearing attacks on soliders around the world, but right here at home is a different story.

"This is in the Heart of Texas," Davis explained. "This kind of stuff doesn't happen in the heart of Texas. Fort Hood is three hundred and 40 square miles of army base. It would take a military person or a darn good impersonator to get in there and do something like that."

The news hit especially close to home for Andy and Manuel Miranda in Odessa, who have both been stationed at Fort Hood.

"It's hard really because those are young men that are preparing to do their thing for this country, and it's hard to hear about them getting killed oversees in war," Andy Miranda, who is retired from the U.S. Army, explained. "But when it happens here at home, you don't like to hear that kind of stuff."

They said it doesn't make things simplier when you learn the shooter was an Army officer, who was soon to be deployed oversees.

"Anybody that joins the service, you take an oath to defend the constitution of the United States," Manuel Miranda, retired from the U.S. Army, added. "So it's your duty. If the government says you have to go, you have to go, it's your duty."

There may be more questions than answers about why the shooter opened fire, but Davis said either way, the military community won't stand for it.

"If you are a hater of this country. If you are a thumper of other worlds, and other ideas and other ideologies and other disbeliefs in this nation, this country, then leave. Go somewhere else," Davis said.

There have been a lot strong feelings from a number of retired military personnel Thursday. Dal Davis said there are organizations like the VFW who are open and welcoming to all soliders and their families who may have been affected by the shooting and the base lock-down. They said they're always willing to listen and help.