New York Post: Fort Hood victims deserve honors

Last update: November 24, 2009 - 2:51 PM

A bill now before Congress would make official what's already plain: The 42 victims, including 13 fatalities, in this month's Fort Hood shooting were casualties of war.

Whether they took fire in Afghanistan, Iraq or Texas makes no difference: The twisted ideology that brought down the Twin Towers knows no borders.

Nor is it relevant that the alleged gunman, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, himself wore the uniform: He'd imbibed deeply from the wells of radical Islam -- even establishing contact with an Al-Qaida-linked imam in Yemen.

The bill, introduced last week by Texas Rep. John Carter, whose district includes Fort Hood, would grant those who were killed or wounded in the shooting the same legal status as combat casualties -- putting them in line for appropriate recognition of their valor.

For those who wore the uniform, that would mean the Purple Heart -- awarded to servicemembers who have shed blood on the field of battle.

The soldiers who fell at Fort Hood knew they might be called upon to make the ultimate sacrifice. Indeed, many were about to be deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.

That their sacrifice, ironically, wound up coming at home, and through treacherous means, makes it no less heroic.

The civilian casualties, meanwhile, would be in line for the Secretary of Defense Medal of Freedom, the award created for civilian Pentagon employees killed or wounded on 9/11.

Survivors of the killed soldiers would also be eligible for maximum Defense Department benefits.

The Carter bill already enjoys broad bipartisan support, though it's likely to be opposed by those who, for the sake of political correctness, wish to pretend that the Fort Hood attack was something other than an act of war.

Yet amid a war that began with a surprise attack on U.S. soil, to pretend that such a thing can't -- and hasn't -- happened again is the height of foolishness.

More's the pity if such a denial robs Fort Hood's casualties of their due honor.

NEW YORK POST

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