Fort Hood Survivors, Families Share Heroic, Tragic Tales

Nov. 6, 2009 — -- Tales of heroism and tragedy from soldiers and civilians alike emerged from Texas today as survivors recover from the Fort Hood shooting that left 13 people dead and dozens more injured.

Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan allegedly opened fire in the Army post's Soldier Readiness Processing Center Thursday, firing dozens of bullets into the crowd of unarmed soldiers. The rampage ended when the suspect was reportedly shot by a responding civilian officer, Kimberly Munley, who was shot in the process.

But Munley, 34, is far from the only soldier being hailed as a hero after Thursday's attack. Several soldiers, some of whom where shot, provided immediate first aid to people who were worse off before looking after themselves, Lt. Gen. Robert Cone, the commanding officer at Fort Hood, said.

Cpl. Nathan Hewitt, 27, took two bullets to the hip and calf before helping other people escape danger.

"I heard somebody shooting at them, and then I tried to get people out with me as I saw a way to get out," Hewitt told ABC News. "There was people hurt worse than I was. I was trying to help them out before I worried about myself.

"Pray for the ones that didn't make it and the ones that are hurt worse than I am."

A female soldier rushed to put a tourniquet on the leg of a downed comrade and then carried him from the building, all without realizing she had been shot in the hip, Cone said.

Soldier Ray Saucedo, who joined the Army last year, was hit in the arm as he escorted a fellow soldier to the medical facility.

Cone said he heard reports of soldiers ripping their own uniforms to use as makeshift bandages.

Army Spc. Keara Bono was wounded in the rampage when she was shot in the back and grazed on the head, her mother, Peggy McCarty, told "Good Morning America" today.

Bono told a friend that a fellow soldier removed a bullet on site, rather than waiting to get to the clinic, Bono's husband, Joey Torkelson, said.

"They were right there helping each other," Torkelson said.

"It is absolutely inspiring," Cone said Thursday of all the soldiers' actions. "This could have been much worse. As horrible as it was, it could have been much worse."

Doctor Describes Trauma Center Gunshot Wounds

Meanwhile, at the trauma center at Scott and White Memorial Hospital, Dr. Bob Greenberg said he had never seen such carnage in his 17 years in practice.

"There were gunshot wounds to the torso and gunshot wounds to the extremities," Greenberg told "GMA."

"Gunshot wounds to the torso are clearly more serious. There were gunshot wounds that hit bones and broke bones."

Soldier Amber Bahr, 19, is in stable condition after being shot in the stomach.

"I'm sure she's down there fighting right now, just hoping and praying everything works out fine," Bahr's father, Todd Koeping, told "GMA."

As the number of injured continued to rise, so did the pleas for help. Hospitals needed blood, and civilians answered the call. Many waited up to six hours to donate blood.

"They defend our country, and, if they need my blood, I'll give it," one man said.

"I have family in the Army," one woman in line said, "so this is the right thing to do."