Fort Hood Solider Asking for His ‘God-Given Right’

[RockIsland]

Read the Powerful Letter a Fort Hood Solider Penned Asking for His ‘God-Given Right’ to Arm Himself on Base

“My name is First Lieutenant Patrick Cook of the 49th Transportation Battalion, Fort Hood, Texas, and this past Wednesday I found myself trapped in an enclosed room with fourteen of my fellow Soldiers, one of whom was barricading the door against a madman with a .45 pistol when he was fatally shot.”

That’s the way a letter detailing a soldier’s experience during last week’s Fort Hood massacre begins.

The letter, which Cook posted to Facebook Monday night, provides the gripping and tragic account of Sgt. First Class Daniel Ferguson’s final moments in which he sacrificed himself to save his fellow soldiers.

“Through what I can only describe as a miracle, he somehow found enough strength to continue pushing against that door until the shooter gave up and went elsewhere, at which time he collapsed,” Cook wrote. “Nearly a week later, I can still taste his blood in my mouth from when I and my comrades breathed into his lungs for 20 long minutes while we waited for a response from the authorities. This Soldier’s name was Sergeant First Class Daniel Ferguson, and his sacrifice loaned me the rest of my life to tell this story.”

Cook then used the letter to call for the repeal of regulations that disarm military personnel on military bases.

“But I write to you today not to memorialize this brave Soldier, nor to tell a war story about how we made the best of a losing situation, but to express the part of that story that some in high positions of power clearly do not want told: I knew this was going to happen,” he wrote. “I had been saying for five years that Fort Hood was a tinderbox of another massacre waiting to happen. It had to happen, because our betters failed to learn the obvious lesson of five years ago. Worse yet, I know it will happen again. More will die, more will be wounded, more families will be torn apart, needlessly. It happened again, and will happen again, because Fort Hood is a gun free zone.”

“When the first shots rang out, my hand reached to my belt for something that wasn’t there. Something that could have put a stop to the bloodshed, could have made it merely an ‘ugly incident’ instead of the horrific massacre that I will surely remember as the darkest twenty minutes of my life,” the letter continued. “Stripped of my God-given Right to arm myself, the only defensive posture I had left was to lie prostrate on the ground, and wait to die. As the shooter kicked at the door, I remember telling myself, ‘oh well, this is it.’ It is beneath human dignity to experience the utter helplessness I felt that day. I cannot abide the thought that anyone should ever feel that again.”

“At the point blank range at which this shooting occurred, anyone with an M9 and some basic instruction could have ended the mayhem as quickly as it began,” he wrote. “An MP by trade and a CHL holder, I am convinced that concealed weapons would have stopped it, but openly carried side-arms, like the ones carried in a law enforcement capacity, could have prevented it entirely. Instead, many more died because of the fatally misguided restrictions on the carrying of arms, which obviously the madman did not respect.”

“I shall conclude by restating my warning. This will happen again, and again until we learn the lesson that suppressing the bearing of arms doesn’t prevent horrific crimes, it invites them. To those of you who hold elected office, if you hear nothing else I have told you, hear this: you have the power to stop the next massacre from happening,” the letter said. “You have an opportunity to restore the sacred Right to bear arms, which has been either stripped entirely or unjustly relegated to the poor substitute of a probationary, government-issued privilege. For God’s sake, do the right thing.”

Cook’s letter was read by Christopher Coleman, a member of the Texas Army National Guard, during a Texas State Senate hearing Monday.



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[StingyGunner]

What if men who felt this way simply failed to continue joining the military?

[DennisH82]

After looking at my crystal ball I predict a certain 1st Lt will be passed over for promotion, receive below center of mass evaluations and receive multle ass chewings for voicing his 1st Ammendment right. He will then fade away and leave the service as has been done hundreds of times before when embarrassing our chain of command and questioning their policies.

[DennisH82]

What if men who felt this way simply failed to continue joining the military?

If the numbers dropped well below what was required to maintain current commitments and unit's turned into ghost units then you would see a call for a draft or mandatory service to fill the ranks and you would still not be allowed to defend yourself.

[Sgt.K]

After looking at my crystal ball I predict a certain 1st Lt will be passed over for promotion, receive below center of mass evaluations and receive multle ass chewings for voicing his 1st Ammendment right. He will then fade away and leave the service as has been done hundreds of times before when embarrassing our chain of command and questioning their policies.

Unfortunately, I share your premonition.
For those who don't know: joining the Armed Services does not mean one must give up their 1st Amendment rights. It does not, however, allow you to freely exercise those rights *while representing the service*, e.g. while in uniform or - as in this case - specifying and identifying that you are a service member. There are specifics to the rules/regs that I don't have handy (IANAL), but this LT does not likely have a promising career ahead of him.

[nfafan]

Good for him, better man for showing the courage. Those pansy-assed politician generals never grow a pair until after retirement - then become TV experts.

As long as parents keep letting their kids join Obama's military...

[DennisH82]

Good for him, better man for showing the courage. Those pansy-assed politician generals never grow a pair until after retirement - then become TV experts.

As long as parents keep letting their kids join Obama's military...

Sorry to spoil it for you it's not Obamas military and parents don't let 18 year olds join, they decide to join on their own since they are adults. While the 1St LT showed guts he didn't show common sense if he wanted to stay in.

[qmcorps]

Sorry to spoil it for you it's not Obamas military and parents don't let 18 year olds join, they decide to join on their own since they are adults. While the 1St LT showed guts he didn't show common sense if he wanted to stay in.

Dennis, The LT in question displayed character, integrity, grief, pain and frustration. He may get his head handed to him. Or, he may be forgiven for saying what others are thinking. Just remember, we were all like this LT when we were young NCOs or junior Officers. No one will touch him in this matter. They were not there.

The sad part of getting older is we place consequences(through life experience/penalty) ahead of youthful perception of what is right and wrong. Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead. Until we are hit by those torpedoes; and pay the price.

When I consider the risks I took and stupid shit I did as a 23 year old Staff Sergeant....could only be summed up by a conversation I had with a gentleman who I had met when I was a new SGT and he was a SSG; now I was an SFC and he was the BN CSM.

The first thing Joe said was "where did all the years go"? The second thing he said was, "Mike, when I think about all the shit we did; we should be making little ones, out of big ones."

[DennisH82]

Dennis, The LT in question displayed character, integrity, grief, pain and frustration. He may get his head handed to him. Or, he may be forgiven for saying what others are thinking. Just remember, we were all like this LT when we were young NCOs or junior Officers. No one will touch him in this matter. They were not there.

The sad part of getting older is we place consequences(through life experience/penalty) ahead of youthful perception of what is right and wrong. Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead. Until we are hit by those torpedoes; and pay the price.

When I consider the risks I took and stupid shit I did as a 23 year old Staff Sergeant....could only be summed up by a conversation I had with a gentleman who I had met when I was a new SGT and he was a SSG; now I was an SFC and he was the BN CSM.

The first thing Joe said was "where did all the years go"? The second thing he said was, "Mike, when I think about all the shit we did; we should be making little ones, out of big ones."

Mike
I went from PVT to CSM-D and retired a 1SG. In between all that I was a SGT three times and SSG twice and an SFC twice the best part of being in so long is telling folks to go phuck themselves In a round about respectful way the LT spoke his mind, that's a rare thing but I also know that while they may not go after him from the front, the petty pluckers will get him in the long ripun considering we are in a drawdown phase.
I was born without any sense of proportion or self preservation so it showed in my career that spared 35 years. I alway took care of good troops like the LT but the green weenie never sleeps and never forgets. So many careers cut short by small minded drones. There are still Soldiers in that think
Ike us but they measure the return on investment and save the kamikazee action for when it can make a difference. I would be willing to bet that the young LT will not be in uniform long no matter how brave we feel he was. A victory where you win the battle but lose the war is not a victory

[qmcorps]

Mike
I went from PVT to CSM-D and retired a 1SG. In between all that I was a SGT three times and SSG twice and an SFC twice the best part of being in so long is telling folks to go phuck themselves In a round about respectful way the LT spoke his mind, that's a rare thing but I also know that while they may not go after him from the front, the petty pluckers will get him in the long ripun considering we are in a drawdown phase.
I was born without any sense of proportion or self preservation so it showed in my career that spared 35 years. I alway took care of good troops like the LT but the green weenie never sleeps and never forgets. So many careers cut short by small minded drones. There are still Soldiers in that think
Ike us but they measure the return on investment and save the kamikazee action for when it can make a difference. I would be willing to bet that the young LT will not be in uniform long no matter how brave we feel he was. A victory where you win the battle but lose the war is not a victory

Yea, brother; I agree. I still believe that there are Officers/NCOs who believe that mistakes are part of the learning process. The second same mistake is a behavior issue. As I said to a friend of mine one night, over a couple of beers. I feel like an anachronism. Our value system no longer fits in this world. Which way to the tar pits.