Kentuckians connected to Hood share memories

I was stationed at FT Hood for just over 5 years after Desert Storm. Great place, great memories,my first child born at Darnell. I have ran many of miles from HAAF to the 2nd armored (Checkered Tower) Saw Kco 158 AVN deactivated,as well as 5ID, served in the 2nd armored until deactivation and reactivated as 4th ID. went on several NTC rotations supporting 3rd ACR out of FT Bliss. also there during the Lubys tragedy. Still there was never a place i enjoyed being stationed than Ft Hood. Petty Officer First Class Robert Lovings

I was stationed at Fort Hood from September, 1968, to December, 1969. I was a sports writer at the Lexington Herald when I got drafted and returned to that position when I got out of the Army in December, 1969.

I hadn't been there in 35 years but was able to go back in 2005 and tour the post. what a different post it was.

Fort Hood is actually two posts in one. the north fort hood was used for tank training by the 1st and 2nd Armored Division. the troops were all housed at south fort. it's about 339 square miles and most troops never got to see north fort or even knew it was there.

Elvis Presley was stationed there, in the late 50s I guess, and was responsible for having built a very nice PX/entertainment area for the soldiers. it was in the 1st Armored Division area.

Fort Hood was not crowded at all in the 60s but today is a very crowded post. nothing like it was 35-40 years ago.

The barracks back then were two-story, traditional type barracks with large open bays where the troops lived. some of us had private or semi- private rooms because of our jobs but most lived in these large open bays. today, the barracks from those days are gone, replaced by buildings that resemble large apartment complexes. outside entrances, individual living areas.

the old buildings where headquarters were located back then, are gone, replaced by more modern facility. when I visited in 2005 it took a while to find where I had worked, in the headquarters building for the 2d Armored Division. finally found it because of the water tower nearby. today, the only remnants are the concrete foundation and a large pad out front where a tank was on display.

since it wasn't as populated then, the fort was much more open. of course we never thought of troops having weapons because society wasn't like that then. in fact, since the main units were armored, I don't remember even military weapons being around the post. unlike Fort Knox and Fort Polk where our weapons were stored in the barracks, not far from where we slept.

(I was a clerk for Major General Leonard Shea and Lt. General Marshall B. Garth, the commanding and deputy commanding general of the 2d Armored Division so thanks to my experience at the Herald in using a typewriter, I pretty much had it easy in the Army.)

there was little to do around Fort Hood or Killeen so our weekends were normally spent in Waco or Austin.

in those days, there were no large gathering areas for troops coming back from Vietnam or getting orders to report overseas. the 502d Admin Compnay would simply contact a soldier's unit to report to the building and individual orders would be given to go to Vietnam. the processing center was a small wooden building, certainly nothing like the soldier center where the shootings yesterday took place.

The shooting rampage makes me think of those days at Fort Hood, a rather quiet post, spread out over thousands of acres in central Texas. Maybe back then we took a lot for granted, that nothing like that would ever happen because society was different, people didn't carry or even have access to weapons as they would today. and perhaps those soldiers yesterday were no different, taking for granted they were on a U.S. Army post and safe from anything like that happening.

--David Thompson

Good evening, I'm an active duty Sergeant First Class (SFC) born and raised in the Fayette, Scott and Grant County areas. Of the 18 years of service I have in the Army, 12 years of those I spent at "The Great Place", Fort Hood. Which is Fort Hood's and III Corps theme. I recently transferred to the National Training Center (NTC) in California since returning from my second deployment to Iraq with the 1st Cavalry Division.