Thumbnail Sketches of Fort Hood Victims

Hoping that Hasan pays big time.

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Victims had different reasons for enlisting


By AMY FORLITI, Associated Press Writers Amy Forliti, Associated Press
Writers
The 13 people killed when an Army psychiatrist allegedly opened fire
on fellow soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas, included several people who
shared the same profession as the alleged shooter, a father of three
with ties to Laos whose family had a history of military service, a
civilian who had returned to work a week after suffering a heart
attack, and a psychiatric nurse who arrived at Fort Hood a day before
the shooting. Here is a look at some of the victims.

___

Michael Grant Cahill

Cahill, a 62-year-old physician assistant, suffered a heart attack two
weeks ago and returned to work at the base as a civilian employee
after taking just one week off for recovery, said his daughter Keely
Vanacker.

"He survived that. He was getting back on track, and he gets killed by
a gunman," Vanacker said, her words bare with shock and disbelief.

Cahill, of Cameron, Texas, helped treat soldiers returning from tours
of duty or preparing for deployment. Often, Vanacker said, Cahill
would walk young soldiers where they needed to go, just to make sure
they got the right treatment.

"He loved his patients, and his patients loved him," said Vanacker,
33, the oldest of Cahill's three adult children. "He just felt his job
was important."

Cahill, who was born in Spokane, Wash., had worked as a civilian
contractor at Fort Hood for about four years, after jobs in rural
health clinics and at Veterans Affairs hospitals. He and his wife,
Joleen, had been married 37 years.

Vanacker described her father as a gregarious man and a voracious
reader who could talk for hours about any subject.

The family's typical Thanksgiving dinners ended with board games and
long conversations over the table, said Vanacker, whose voice often
cracked with emotion as she remembered her father. "Now, who I am
going to talk to?"

___

Maj. Libardo Eduardo Caraveo

Caraveo, 52, of Woodbridge, Va., arrived in the United States in his
teens from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, knowing very little English said his
son, also named Eduardo Caraveo.

He earned his doctorate in psychology from the University of Arizona
and worked with bilingual special-needs students at Tucson-area
schools before entering private practice.

His son told the Arizona Daily Star in Tucson that Caraveo had arrived
at Fort Hood on Wednesday and was preparing to deploy to Afghanistan.
Eduardo Caraveo spoke to the newspaper from his mother's Tucson home.

His father's Web site says he offered marriage seminars with a company
based in Woodbridge, Va.

___

Staff Sgt. Justin M. DeCrow

DeCrow, 32, was helping train soldiers on how to help new veterans
with paperwork and had felt safe on the Army post.

"He was on a base," his wife, Marikay DeCrow, said in a telephone
interview from the couple's home in Evans, Ga. "They should be safe
there. They should be safe."

In a statement Saturday, she said her husband's "infectious charm and
wit always put others at ease."

His wife said she wanted everyone to know what a loving man he was.
The couple have a 13-year-old daughter, Kylah.

"He was well loved by everyone," she said through sobs. "He was a
loving father and husband and he will be missed by all."

The couple were high school sweethearts who married in 1996. Marikay
DeCrow said her husband was first stationed at Fort Gordon in 2000,
and she had hoped they would reunite at their home in nearby Evans
when another post there opened up.

DeCrow was stationed in Korea from September 2008 to August. He left
in September to go to Fort Hood.

His father, Daniel DeCrow, of Fulton, Ind., said he talked to his son
last week to ask him how things were going at Fort Hood.

"As usual, the last words out of my mouth to him were that I was proud
of him," he said. "That's what I said to him every time — that I loved
him and I was proud of what he was doing. I can carry that around in
my heart."

___

Capt. John Gaffaney

Gaffaney, 56, was a psychiatric nurse who worked for San Diego County,
Calif., for more than 20 years and had arrived at Fort Hood the day
before the shooting to prepare for a deployment to Iraq.

Gaffaney, who was born in Williston, N.D., had served in the Navy and
later the California National Guard as a younger man, his family said.
After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, he tried to sign up again for
military service. Although the Army Reserves at first declined, he got
the call about two years ago asking him to rejoin, said his close
friend and co-worker Stephanie Powell.

"He wanted to help the boys in Iraq and Afghanistan deal with the
trauma of what they were seeing," Powell said. "He was an honorable
man. He just wanted to serve in any way he can."

His family described him as an avid baseball card collector and fan of
the San Diego Padres who liked to read military novels and ride his
Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

Gaffaney supervised a team of six social workers, including Powell, at
the county's Adult Protective Services department. Ellen Schmeding,
assistant deputy director for the county's Health and Human Services
Agency, said Gaffaney was a strong leader.

He is survived by a wife and a son.

___

Spc. Frederick Greene

Greene, 29, of Mountain City, Tenn., was assigned to the 16th Signal
Company, Fort Hood, Texas.

___

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, her 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."

___

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 was proud to serve and felt keenly the responsibility of
representing his nation and his family, said another uncle, Michael
Blades. Blades said several of Nemelka's relatives were in the
military, including a grandfather who served in the Korean War and
received a Purple Heart.

"He felt it was his duty to stand with them in defense of our
country," Blades said.

Nemelka enjoyed soccer, bowling and snowboarding, and was an avid fan
of the Utah Utes, he said.

The youngest of four children, Nemelka 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.

Blades said Nemelka had a tremendous love for his family and a deep
sense of duty.

"His mission is completed," Blades said, his voice breaking. "He now
serves a higher calling in heaven."

___

Pfc. Michael Pearson

Pearson, 22, 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.

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

His cousin, Mike Dostalek, showed reporters a poem Pearson wrote. "I
look only to the future for wisdom. To rock back and forth in my
wooden chair," the poem says.

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.

___

Capt. Russell Seager

Seager, 51, of Racine, Wis., was a psychiatrist who joined the Army a
few years ago because he wanted to help veterans returning to civilian
life, said his uncle, Larry Seager of Mauston.

Larry Seager said Russell Seager's death left the family stunned,
especially because the psychiatrist only wanted to help soldiers
improve their mental health.

"It's unbelievable. He goes down there to help out soldiers and then
he ... ," Seager said, his voice trailing off. "I still can't believe
it."

___

Pvt. 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."

___

Lt. Col. Juanita Warman

Warman, 55, of Havre De Grace, Md., was a military physician assistant
with two daughters and six grandchildren.

A half-sister, Kristina Rightweiser, said Warman was from a military
family. Their father, who died in 2007, was a "career military man,"
Rightweiser served in the Air Force, and Rightweiser's brother is in
the Coast Guard. The two women didn't grow up together, but
reconnected after their father's death, Rightweiser said.

Warman "loved the Army and loved her family very much," she said in a
message sent through Facebook.

Another sister, Margaret Yaggie of Roaring Branch in north-central
Pennsylvania, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that Warman attended
Pittsburgh Langley High School and put herself through school at the
University of Pittsburgh. She said Warman spent most of her career in
the military.

Warman at one point worked at the University of Pittsburgh Medical
Center. She wrote an article about using surgery to treat obesity in
adolescents. An article from 2007 listed her as working in the mental
health division of the Perry Point Veterans Affairs Medical Center in
Maryland and co-leading a health fair discussion on "Women Trauma and
Returning Veterans."

___

Pfc. Kham Xiong

Xiong, 23, of St. Paul, Minn., was a father of three whose family had
a history of military service.

Xiong's father, Chor Xiong, is a native of Laos who fought the Viet
Cong alongside the CIA in 1972; Chor's father, Kham's grandfather,
also fought with the CIA; and Kham's brother, Nelson, is a Marine
serving in Afghanistan.

Xiong's father said he was "very mad." Through sniffles and tears, he
said his son died for "no reason" and he has a hard time believing
Kham is gone.

Kham Xiong was preparing to deploy to Afghanistan, and his sister Mee
Xiong said the family would be able to understand if he would have
died in battle.

"He didn't get to go overseas and do what he's supposed to do, and
he's dead ... killed by our own people," Mee Xiong said.

Xiong was one of 11 siblings and came to the U.S. when he was just a
toddler. He grew up in California, then moved to Minnesota with the
family about 10 years ago, Chor Xiong said.

He was married and had three children ages 4, 2 and 10 months. His
wife, Shoua, said they started dating in eighth grade, and the last
time she saw her husband was Thursday morning at their Texas home.

She said he gave everyone a kiss and went to work. "It was an ordinary
day," she said. After she heard about the shooting, she tried to call
him, but never got an answer.

At 3 a.m. Friday, the doorbell rang.

"My heart dropped," she said. "I knew the reason they were here, but I
asked them to tell me he was OK."

___

Associated Press writers Jessica Gresko in Washington, Angela K. Brown
at Fort Hood, Texas, Kate Brumback in Atlanta, Deanna Martin in
Indianapolis, Desiree Hunter in Montgomery, Ala., Elliot Spagat in San
Diego, Thomas Watkins in Los Angeles, Monica Rohr in Houston, Jennifer
Dobner in Salt Lake City, Richard Green in Oklahoma City, Caryn
Rousseau in Bolingbrook, Ill., and Robert Imrie in Wausau, Wis., and
Sophia Tareen, Michael Tarm and Amy Shafer in Chicago contributed to
this report. Forliti contributed from St. Paul, Minn.
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