I previously wrote about the attack at Ft. Hood by Major Hassan here and here. Now, the victims of that attack have received some recogntion. The military service members received Purple Hearts and the civilian victims received the civilian Defense of Freedom Medal. The widow of CW2 (Ret) Michael Cahill received the Defense of Freedom medal. The same Michael Cahill who raised a chair over his head to strike the Major, before Hassan poured several rounds into the retired warrant officer. The soldiers and retired soldiers were unarmed, but that did not keep them from attacking their attacker. See San Antonio Express News report.

These “victims” were not true victims. Until the very end, they were attacking a murderer. As service members are trained to do, they were defending the defenseless.