Memorial Thread for Fort Hood Victims

[DaShi]

Seriously Ben, take your garbage elsewhere.

[DaShi]

Those names released are:

* Justin Johnson of Punta Gorda, Florida
* George Stratton II of Post Falls, Idaho
* Kimberly Munley
* Nathan Hewitt of Lafayette, Indiana
* Keara Bono of Independence, Missouri
* Ray Saucedo, hometown unspecified
* Spc. Grant Moxon of Lodi, Wisconsin
* Amber Bahr of Random Lake, Wisconsin
* Matthew Cooke, hometown unspecified
* Staff Sgt. Joy Clark of Des Moines, Iowa
* Pfc. Joey Foster of Ogden, Utah[19]

[SlowwHand]

Francheska 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."






Pfc. Michael 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.

Pearson's mother, Sheryll Pearson, said the 2006 Bolingbrook High School graduate joined the military because he was eager to serve his country and broaden his horizons.

Sheryll Pearson said she hadn't seen her son for a year because he had been training. She told the Chicago Tribune that when she last talked to him on the phone two days ago, they had discussed how he would come home for Christmas.

"He was the best son in the whole world," she said. "He was my best friend, and I miss him."




Kham Xiong, 23, of St. Paul, Minn., a 2004 graduate of Community of Peace Academy, enjoyed hunting and fishing.

"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.
[No photo available]






Pfc. Aaron Thomas 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.





Sgt. Amy Krueger, 29, of Kiel, Wisc., 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.

[SlowwHand]

Although wounded, she shot the assailant 4 times.

Few people on the sprawling Fort Hood military installation were more qualified to answer the call for help during Thursday's shooting tragedy than civilian police Sgt. Kimberly Munley.