Seventeen years have passed since an Army psychiatrist opened fire at Fort Hood killing 13 people in 2009.Since then, families of three of the fallen have learned to navigate life without their loved ones, finding strength in the values and lessons their father, daughter and spouse left behind."It builds character, kid," is a phrase Keely Cahill Vanacker remembers her father Michael Cahill saying, always with a playful punch to the arm, throughout her teenage years whenever she was upset.Cahill served in the Army National Guard for 23 years as an infantryman before earning a bachelor’s degree in psychology and training to become a physician assistant, providing medical care to soldiers."My dad really valued people, and he touched a lot of lives," Vanacker said.TRUMP CLEARS WAY FOR FORT HOOD TERRORIST TO FACE ARMY FIRING SQUAD NEARLY 17 YEARS AFTER MASSACREGrowing up in a military family, living all across the country, Vanacker saw Cahill demonstrate the value of treating others with humanity and fairness as he practiced medicine.Michael Cahill served in the Army National Guard for 23 years before training to become a physician assistant.
(Courtesy of Keely Vanacker)"If you were somebody living in a rural Texas post and struggling to even pay for your asthma medication, my dad would find places for you to get your medication," she said.For Cahill, serving people was a calling; and it did not end when he hung up his helmet.After retiring from the military he continued to serve as a civilian PA at Fort Hood.As for Amy Krueger, her call to serve came in the aftermath of the Sept.
11, 2001, terror attacks."I’m going in."Those are the words Amy told her mother Jeri Krueger on the afternoon of Sept.11.At the time, Amy was a student at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, Sheboygan Campus."Going in?" Krueger recalled asking her daughter."I'm joining the Army, mom."Krueger was skeptical that her daughter could make a difference in the fight against terrorism."Oh, Am...