Fort Hood shooting has damaged image of all soldiers

    Major Nadal Malik Hasan’s rampage shooting at Fort Hood, Texas was the worst thing that could have happened to the United States military during this phase of our efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. His cowardly, murderous rampage has entered doubt into the minds of Soldiers and sowed seeds of doubt with the American people that their military is suspect.     I, like many of my friends, have been through the deployment readying process. It is a benign experience. The days prior to going to the Soldier Readiness Center (SRC) are filled with exhausting and challenging training. The trip to the SRC is almost looked forward to, as an opportunity it sit quietly with your fellow Soldier, joke a bit, and do those things necessary to prepare yourself and your family for the deployment. It is not a place you expect to be shot at, until now. Hasan has taken a safe haven away from our Soldiers and made the SRC yet another dangerous place of suspicion and alertness. The only other place worse that he could have chosen would have been the Fort Hood elementary school.
    I have Muslim friends serving in our military. One of the greatest accomplishments of the Maine Army National Guard’s B/3-172nd’s Iraq deployment was that we brought back to Maine several of our Iraqi interpreters and their families. One of the translators joined the U.S. Army within six months of his arrival in our country. He went to boot camp, Airborne school and now serves as an Arabic translator. Another Iraqi, who my family will visit this Thanksgiving, writes and lectures for the U.S. Military Academy. Both are nobly serving their country, the United States of America, and sadly the actions of Hasan weaken our people’s recognition of this new citizen’s sacrifice. I worry now that their fellow Soldiers and peers will some how now hold them suspect and question their loyalty.
    Lastly, the American people may now view everyone who is in the military that has either going or coming back from oversees has mental health issues. Yes, there are Soldiers who deploy and have experiences that need attention. The New York Times reports as many as one-fifth of our troops return from Afghanistan or Iraq dealing with issues of depression, suicidal thoughts and other mental health issues. Hasan’s state of mind, even though he never deployed, helps to further the myth that everyone who goes to combat comes back with problems.
    No one will deny that some, but not everyone (four-fifths do not have those problems) who deploys comes home with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). And those who do, this author included, can get better with time and by using the treatment offered by Army professionals and their civilian counterparts. My wife will tell you that I am not the same man I was when I left for Iraq. She will tell you I am a better man than when I left. Millions of Soldiers fought in World War II and they came home to Maine as our business and community leaders and philanthropists. So will our veterans from the current conflicts. Hasan’s actions immediately lead to headlines that questioned the mental stability of our Soldiers and make our public suspect of their abilities.
    Hasan’s murderous and cowardly actions have cut into our Soldiers’ psyche and bred mistrust amongst the ranks. His actions have led to unwarranted concerns of our Soldiers’ mental stability.
    Major Darryl W. Lyon is an assistant professor of military science at University of Maine ROTC in Bangor.