Posted - 11/6/2009 at 5:39PM
Remembering those who died during the Ft. Hood shooting has special meaning for one Tucson area resident.
"I ask you to join me in a one minute moment of silence," David Koch, JROTC teacher at Cholla High School told his class Friday. "Please bow your heads."
It's the first time Koch has ever had to do that. While he says losing any soldier is a tragedy, the shootings at Fort Hood are unique.
"In this particular instance where soldiers feel like they were in the safety of their own home, it makes it even worse."
Koch knows how important it is to feel safe at an army post, especially Fort Hood. His daughter-in-law and grandchildren live there, and while they're all doing fine, his daughter-in-law was only a couple dozen yards away from the shootings.
"You always worry," Koch said. "The army is basically a big family and you worry about your close relatives but you worry about every soldier that's out there.."
As a JROTC teacher, part of Koch's job is to prepare his students for some of the roadblocks they might face.
"In the army, home is where you hang your hat and that's just the way it is. I moved all over the world in the 42 years that I served," Koch said.
But now more than ever, those roadblocks hit home.
"For old soldiers like me, your home many times is the instillation that you are assigned to, that is your home," Kock said. "So this is like having a drive by shooting at your house."
Koch also has a son who is normally stationed on the post. Right now, he's training members of the national guard in Oklahoma.
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