'We just get stronger' Posted On: Monday, Nov. 9 2009 05:04 AM By Amanda Kim Stairrett
Killeen Daily Herald

FORT HOOD – One thing is clear as the community begins to recover from Thursday's shooting: The Army is a giant family.

"When anything like this happens, we just get stronger," Pfc. Joseph Foster said.

Foster is a 21-year-old Ogden, Utah, native in the 36th Engineer Brigade's 20th Engineer Battalion. He was at the Soldier Readiness Processing Center last week and was hit in the left hip by a bullet – one of 38 wounded in the attack.

He was taken to Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center and was released Friday afternoon. He went home to his wife, Mandi; son, 2-year-old Liam; and 6-week-old Keilee. The first thing he did was kiss Mandi, hug his children and made sure they were OK.

The Fosters talked about their lives following the shooting Sunday on the lawn of their on-post house at Fort Hood. Joseph leaned on a carved cane that until last week was just "for show" but has since come in handy, he joked.

He applauded the support he and his family received immediately after the shooting, saying the battalion's family readiness group rushed to Mandi's aid. Other spouses brought food and made sure there was someone on whom she could lean.

The community came together, Joseph said.

"They were great," he said.

Family readiness group members continued to make visits to the Fosters' home, bringing care packages Sunday afternoon. A handful of spouses gathered at the battalion's headquarters and packed boxes of food for 11 of their wounded soldiers.

The Army is a family, said Amanda Gault, an Army spouse active in the battalion's family readiness group.

"It's just one big family," she added.

Items for the care packages were donated by people, organizations and businesses in the local communities, Gault said.

Fifteen of the battalion's soldiers were involved in Thursday's shooting, Lt. Col. Pete Andrysiak said. Four died, and 11 were hospitalized. Six of those soldiers have since been released and five remained hospitalized as of Sunday afternoon. Two were in Darnall and three at Scott & White Hospital in Temple.

Foster's stay in the hospital was a bit easier because he was placed in a room with his battle buddy – a fellow battalion soldier who was at the processing site with him. Both were preparing for a January deployment to Afghanistan where they were to conduct route clearance operations. Andrysiak said the deployment is still on as scheduled.

The 700-soldier strong battalion is one of three of the 36th Engineer's units at Fort Hood. The others are the 62nd and 8th Engineer Battalions.

Foster got several visitors during his stay at Darnall, including his commander and sergeant major and Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey Jr. The chief of staff wished him a good recovery and apologized for what happened, Foster said.

His sergeant major joked he had physical training at 6:30 the next morning.

Foster is just ready to heal and get back to work. He expects to make a full recovery and brushes off any hero titles that anyone tries to place upon him for his actions during the incident.

"I'm a soldier," he said. "It's my job."

"We're well-trained. We did what we did because we're well-trained. We're soldiers."

If any good has come out of this situation, it is to show the battalion's soldiers that if anything does happen during the deployment, families at home will be taken care of, Andrysiak said.

Everything feels different, the commander said of life after Thursday's attacks, and the best thing the unit can do is continue to focus.

Fort Hood officials are calling upon any soldier, spouse or civilian who needs help – whether they were directly affected – to seek it, said Col. (promotable) John Rossi, Fort Hood deputy commander for fires.

The Military Child Education Coalition is supporting the efforts to expand care to the local school-age population, and two people who specialize in child psychology and disaster management will be available at Fort Hood.

The post's Survivor Outreach Services and Resiliency Campus have programs available for support in an effort to reach out to "our entire Army family," Rossi said.

Contact the Military Child Education Coalition at (254) 953-1923, Survivor Outreach Services at (254) 288-3655 and the Resiliency Campus at (254) 285-5693.

Contact Amanda Kim Stairrett at astair@kdhnews.com or (254) 501-7547.