The servicemembers killed or wounded in the 2009 attack should be considered victims of terrorism – not workplace violence.
The House of Representatives passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on Dec. 4, which includes a provision that would make victims of the massacre at Fort Hood, Texas, eligible to receive the Purple Heart.
On Nov. 5, 2009, Army Major Nidal Hasan opened fire on servicemembers at the fort’s readiness processing center, killing 12 and wounding 32; one Army civilian employee also died. Hasan has since been convicted of murder and sentenced to death.
Because the Department of Defense and federal law enforcement agencies classified the killings as “workplace violence,” the victims cannot receive Purple Hearts, which are given to members of the military killed or wounded in combat. The House bill would call for Purple Hearts to be awarded to “members of the armed forces killed or wounded in domestic attacks inspired by foreign terrorist organizations.”
John Stovall, director of The American Legion’s National Security Division, said the killings need to be reclassified as an act of domestic terrorism because Hasan was communicating with an al-Qaida leader, Anwar al-Awlaki.
“The Fort Hood massacre was clearly a terrorist attack committed by a man who, by his own actions and statements, was an enemy of the United States,” Stovall said. “Hasan didn’t shoot 45 people because he was a disgruntled employee. He shot them because he was a terrorist under the influence of a known al-Qaida leader.”
An investigation of the shootings revealed that Hasan had exchanged emails with al-Awlaki, who was being monitored by the National Security Agency.
The American Legion passed a resolution last August at its 2014 national convention that calls for the Fort Hood massacre to be reclassified as an act of terrorism against a U.S. military base, “and the soldiers killed and wounded on Nov. 5, 2009 should be awarded all honors and benefits due to battlefield combat.”
The Legion’s resolution noted that legislation such as that passed by the House could “ensure that the victims of the Fort Hood massacre and their families are entitled to the very same benefits that are afforded to Americans who have been injured in overseas combat zones and the families of those who have been killed in action.”
Stovall said The American Legion has no position on changing the criteria for awarding Purple Hearts, but that its voting membership believes “DoD got it wrong when they chose to classify a terrorist act as workplace violence.”
The NDAA bill has moved on to the Senate, where a floor vote is expected sometime next week.
- Legislative