Local Reservists Shocked by Fort Hood Rampage

"We really are a family... When one goes down, all suffer"

By LAUREN PETTY

Updated 7:05 AM EST, Fri, Nov 6, 2009

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As a gunman was taking the lives of innocent soldiers on Thursday afternoon in Fort Hood, Texas, several U.S. Army Reservists from Connecticut were gathered at the Connecticut Convention Center.

The event in Hartford was supposed to be a celebration of new job opportunities in Connecticut for members of the military, but the deadly rampage shooting in Texas overshadowed the announcement.

"The natural reaction for me is to go help my fellow soldiers," said Command Chief Warrant Officer Pat Nelligan, a U.S. Army Reservist from Bristol.

"You can't put it into words," said Chaplain John Charles, who is based at the United States Armed Forces Reserve Center in West Hartford. "Whether our guys go down in harm's way overseas or here, it's no different."

Maj. Gen. James Sholar, the Deputy Commanding General of the U.S. Army Reserve Command, was in Hartford to sign a job partnership agreement between the U.S. Army Reserve and 250 new car dealers across Connecticut, but like so many others, his thoughts were 1,800 miles away in Texas.

"We really are a family. It really doesn’t matter what uniform you wear. When one goes down, all suffer," Sholar said.

The Army reservists spoke of their grief and disbelief that a fellow member of the military is the suspected shooter.

"When one of your own takes this unbelievable turn for the worst, there's no way to protect yourself against that. When you hear about it, the best you can hope for is it's compartmentalized, it's not rampant," Nelligan said.

"It makes us all know that we're vulnerable wherever we are," Chaplain Charles said. "There's no safe haven where tragedy can't strike."