Sounds of war, memories of a massacre

At Fort Hood: sounds of war, memories of a massacre
From Charley Keyes, CNN Senior Producer
October 17, 2010 3:44 p.m. EDT
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
A military hearing is underway at Fort Hood for the suspect in last year's shootings on the base
A prosecution parade of witnesses began last week
Most of the shooting victims were preparing for Iraq or Afghanistan when they were hit
Fort Hood, Texas (CNN) -- The distant rumble of big guns on Fort Hood's artillery range rattles the ceiling tiles in the small military courtroom.
But the sounds of war training don't interrupt the intensity inside the military hearing as dozens of witnesses here recal that day last November when 13 people were shot to death and 32 wounded on the base in central Texas.
Training with Paladin howitzers is part of everyday life at Fort Hood, the country's largest Army base. Most of the shooting victims were preparing to ship out to the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan.
But nothing prepared them for what happened to them at home -- dodging bullets as a gunman cut down their buddies.
The prosecution put up more than two dozen witnesses in the first three full days of the Article 32 hearing. Prosecutors have set aside two more weeks, and scores more witnesses are expected. The Article 32 hearing will reconvene in November for defense attorneys to make their case. Then an Army colonel, -- the Investigating officer presiding over this hearing -- will decide if there is enough evidence to push the case along toward a court martial with a possible penalty of death upon conviction.
During live video testimony from Afghanistan, fighter jets roared overhead as soldiers described how their safe and secure base suddenly became a bloody battleground.
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At Fort Hood sounds of war memories of a massacre