The scars of the Fort Hood survivors

For the wounded, there are bullet holes and physical injuries to tend to. But even for those physically unscathed, the wounds of being a witness will take time to heal.

By CAMPBELL ROBERTSON and SERGE F. KOVALESKI New York Times

Last update: November 12, 2009 - 9:48 PM

KILLEEN, TEXAS - It seemed unlikely that Christopher Royal was going to be delivering the sermon Sunday at Shiloh Baptist Church in Eclectic, Ala., as scheduled. Royal, a chief warrant officer in the Army, had been shot three times in the back during the rampage at Fort Hood.

But early Saturday, Royal called his brother, Bernard Birmingham, and said he was coming anyway.

"I said, 'Can you make it?'" Birmingham recalled Thursday. "He said, 'I can make it with the help of the Lord.'"

Like Royal, 37, many of those injured in the killing spree at Fort Hood have already begun the process of moving on, even as they live with scars and limps and frayed nerves, with wheelchairs and stomach staples and colostomy bags, with bullets positioned too precariously in soft tissue for doctors to remove without risk.

Security was stolen

Those with physical injuries came away from an unexplainable horror with something tangible to focus on in the weeks and months ahead. Twelve people are still in the hospital, some who may need months to recover.

But those hit with bullets were not the only survivors. Others, too, saw the rampage. They will never be able to lift up a shirt sleeve to show off a scar and, experts said, this may make it even harder for them to recover.

"They didn't have visits with the president, they didn't have a lot of the additional attention and they haven't had the same opportunity to process the event," said Col. Steven Braverman, commander of the Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center, where most of the wounded were initially taken.

Pfc. Mariano Alvarez, 25, a food specialist scheduled to go to Afghanistan in January, was there. He saw the gunman shooting "anybody and anything that moved," and he even rushed in to give first aid. Nothing struck Alvarez, except what he saw and heard.

"Everyone sees a military base as a safe haven, but that was stolen from me," he said, adding that the sound of a nail gun on base last Friday made the hair on his arms stand up.

"Knowing that any moment my life could have been taken away hits you pretty hard," he said. He has been undergoing counseling. "I feel helpless, and I felt helpless at the time."

They let call go to voicemail

Those with physical injuries are leaving hospitals each day, and no one is expected to become worse, officials said.

What comes next, whether they will join their units in Iraq or Afghanistan, get a desk job or leave the military will depend on weeks and months of tests. If all goes well, if they are cleared to go overseas, the last stop in this series of evaluations will be at a soldier readiness processing center like the one where their nightmare began.

But certain things are immediately clear. Cpl. Nathan Hewitt, 27, with a bullet hole in his calf, will not be riding his motorcycle anytime soon.

Pvt. George Stratton III, shot in the left shoulder, will not shoot pool as effortlessly as he once did. He is left-handed.

His parents, in Idaho, found out about their son later, after a friend mentioned the day's big news. Stratton, who turned 18 in July, had called while they were having lunch. They let it go to voicemail. "Somebody went crazy and I'm in the back of an ambulance," the message said. "I've been shot in the shoulder. But I should be O.K."

Most of the wounded emphasized that they were soldiers who had been trained to persevere. Staff Sgt. Alonzo Lunsford, 43, a basketball coach and father of two who was working in the processing center where the rampage took place, said he had been shot five times. "I feel pretty weird right now," Lunsford said from his hospital bed. "But I ain't going anywhere. My plans are to stay in the military. Solid."

Spc. Logan Burnette, 24, who has a bullet in his hip and was shot in the left elbow and hand, said his plans had not changed, either. "My goal is to get back to active duty and ride out a 20-year contract," he said.

Despite such steely attitudes, base officials said the impact might set in over time. Said Col. John Rossi, the fort's deputy commanding general: "We could be at the eye of the storm."

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