Family, friends mourn Fort Hood victims

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By ASSOCIATED PRESS

The 13 people killed when an Army psychiatrist allegedly opened fire on fellow soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas, on Thursday included a pregnant woman who was preparing to return home, a man who quit a furniture company job to join the military about a year ago, a newlywed who had served in Iraq and a woman who had vowed to take on Osama bin Laden after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Here is a look at some of the victims.

Francheska Velez

Ms. Velez, 21, of Chicago, was pregnant and preparing to return home. A friend, Sasha Ramos, described her as a fun-loving person who wrote poetry and loved dancing.

"She was like my sister," Miss Ramos, 21, said. "She was the most fun and happy person you could know. She never did anything wrong to anybody."

Family members said Ms. Velez had recently returned from deployment in Iraq and had sought a lifelong career in the Army.

"She was a very happy girl and sweet," said her father, Juan Guillermo Velez, his eyes red from crying. "She had the spirit of a child."

Miss Ramos, who also served briefly in the military, couldn't reconcile that her friend was killed in this country - just after leaving a war zone.

"It makes it a lot harder," she said. "This is not something a soldier expects - to have someone in our uniform go start shooting at us."

Michael Grant Cahill

Mr. Cahill, a 62-year-old physician assistant, suffered a heart attack two weeks ago and returned to work at the base as a civilian employee after taking just one week off for recovery, said his daughter Keely Vanacker.