visit the school later today. a short time ago, we heard from the school's superintendent. >> today, our school community experienced a terrible tragedy. the actions and response of our staff, students, and local law enforcement officers saved many lives. >> officials say an armed police officer and a school security guard as well as an assistant principal tackled the suspect who was arrested and taken into custody. joining me now on the phone rinada a reporter for "the pittsburgh tribune review." what do we know about the alleged attacker? >> we have been told by police that he is a 16-year-old male sophomore. they have not released the name as of yet. they have not released a motive as of yet. but he is at the murrysville police department being questioned right now. >> so, obviously, the school is a crime scene as it were. what are the thoughts on what's going to happen with all of those students?

are they going to be able to return to school tomorrow or is this investigation going to keep the school closed for some time? >> the superintendent said that the school will be closed for two or three more days just as police continue to investigate and go through all the crime scene. but he plans to open middle school and an elementary school that are both here on campus tomorrow, and he said if students want to stay home, that's perfectly fine. but he said that the district will be offering counseling to the entire school community. >> okay. what do you know about the status of the injured? >> as far as i know, they are still in the hospital. we have some other reporters working on that. we were told that there was four -- at least four critical patients, 19 of them were students and then there was the one additional security guard. i'm not sure of their current status though. >> and we don't have any inkling as to students maybe beginning to talk potentially to reporters, to parents about what they thought might have been the

impetus for this to happen or the motive behind it? >> the students and parents that i've managed to track down here at the scene have all said that they didn't know the attacker, the suspect, that they weren't really able to provide much information on that part. >> all right. renatta, reporter for "the pittsburgh tribune" thanks very much. >> thank you. >> a retired special agent and analyst. thanks for being here. i want to play you sound from dan stevens spokesman for the west moreland county emergency management office who spoke about the investigation. let me have you take a listen. >> we do have a very large law enforcement presence. we have assistance from not only local law enforcement here in the murrysville, penn township and surrounding communities, state police are here to assist us with the investigation, the fbi has brought in some individuals to help us with the investigation background and trying to see if there was anything that might have led to this particular situation.

>> so why bring in the fbi? this seems like a very local event. this is a student from the school. why the fbi? >> well, you know, state police, federal agents are brought into these things, joy, because they lend manpower element to it. this is going to be a big crime scene. you got 19 victims spread across a wide area. the more people you have, the more agents you have, the more detectives you have, the better you can put it back together quickly. law enforcement is a collegial profession so everybody gets in there, works together intensely. i know ft. hood was just last week but you saw the u.s. army criminal investigation released, because of that joint work, they've interviewed 1100 people. that's why it's done. it's done to focus intensely, get the job done and use the resources and expertise of every level of law enforcement. >> as somebody with a law enforcement background and familiar with these investigations what is it that law enforcement officials will be looking for?

is this a matter of now going and looking at the background of the young student? what would be sort of the one, two, three steps that are being taken now by law enforcement to try to figure out why this happened? >> right. well the first thing is going to be, they're going to be building a criminal case against this young 16-year-old assailant because he's going to face a whole lot of charges in the courts in pennsylvania for these assaults, these aggravated assaults with a weapon, and hopefully we don't have anyone die. it's going to be a major crim until case that has to be presented to the prosecutors and all that has to be, you know, done extremely carefully and correctly because he's going to have the benefits of a jury trial and defense and so forth. that's number one. number two, are there any other people involved? did they know about it? could they help put pieces back together, the background and hopefully there's nobody else involved as a co-conspirator, there's no indication of that, but it's a normal query you would have. >> as a parent having been through situations where our school was placed on lockdown or

students removed because of some threat or parents pick up their children or remove their children from the scene does just sort of the impetus to get out of the scene, get as many away from it as possible, does that in any way disturb what really is the crime scene? does it make more difficult to investigate? clearly people fled. you don't have a static scene. >> well, it does not in a case where you have, you know, a school where you know who all the students are, you have, you know, a roster of students and know who the parents are. that's different than if it happens say in a public place and everybody scatters. so in that case, joy, you would be right, it is difficult because you would like the people maybe to stay safely, but nearby and at least recontact law enforcement. in this case, the best thing, get your child, go home, and just make sure that, you know, you're available to help the police or detectives or agents if they call and i'm sure everybody will because they want to make sure we put a stop to these things. >> absolutely. frightening situation for the students and parents alike. retired special agent jim

cavanagh, thank you. >> thank you. let's bring in nbc's peter alexander on the ground in murrysville, pennsylvania. what can you tell us about the investigation as it stands right now? >> joy, we just got here within the last five minutes or so. i can tell you about a conversation i just wrapped up as we were driving to this live location to give you a sense of where we are right now in the distance back there, that's where you can see franklin regional high school. it's a way back there. this campus, there's an elementary and middle school as well. we're outside the elementary school. as you drive through the community you can see the stunned look on faces of the members of this community. the district serves about 22,400 people or so. as i was saying i just got off the phone with a 17-year-old, a student at franklin regional high school who describes to me the scene inside as these stabbings were taking place. he didn't see the physical stabbings taking place. he says he was in the cafeteria at the time, he heard the fire alarm go off as it's been explained to us, someone pulled the fire alarm to alert folks there was an emergency taking place. when he walked out into one of

the hallways outside that cafeteria he saw blood on the ground. at first he thought to himself perhaps someone had a bad bloody nose. clearly the situation was something much more sinister than that. that's when he saw a young woman, another student who he said had blood, unfortunately, gushing from one of her arms out her sleeve. he ran into a teacher who communicated to him the emergency and he and many other students were able to evacuate, to leave the high school to a safe location just off campus. in terms of that investigation, as you've been reporting so far today, we know of 19 -- at least 19 students who were wounded in this attack that took place today. that one adult as well. we're told about two of the individuals as you've note ready in critical continue right now. it's believed that everybody will survive. obviously though, this is very touch and go for the members of this community, members of the families affected and certainly for the victims themselves, joy? >> thank you very much, we will obviously continue to follow this story. peter alexander, thank you. and now let's go to ft.

hood, texas, where president obama and the first lady have just arrived for today's memorial service. it starts at the top of the hour. the president is set to speak at 3:30 p.m. eastern where he'll offer his condolences to the families of the three killed and 16 people wounded when the suspect opened fire on the military base one week ago today. boots and helmets of the fallen soldiers are sitting in front of their podium -- of the podium in their memory. the alleged shooter ivan lopez died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound after being confronted by a female police officer on the base. it's the second visit for president obama to ft. hood. in 2009 the president led a memorial service for the victims of a 2009 massacre. when army psychiatrist na dal hassan opened fire killing 13 people and wounding dozens more. nbc's sarah is live at ft. hood. we understand the president and first lady are meeting with the families of the victims right now. >> that is correct. they are offering words of comfort and condolence to the

family and wounded before they make their way here to the memorial site. before the president's speech you will hear from the chief of staff of the army and the secretary of the army and as you can see behind me we're already seeing a crowd gathering. soldiers, their families and dignitaries are assembling. this is a terrible deja vu for this military community who lived through an attack on post-soil twice in five years. it was a week ago today that ivan lopez allegedly opened fire following an argument about leave. his rampage lasted eight minutes and it stretched two city blocks. one of the dead and at least one of the wounded were also involved in this argument. the rest the army believes were random, soldiers going about their daily lives. we've been told a few minutes ago that 12 of the 16 wounded are out of the hospital and back on duty. and joy, the army says taking care of those soldiers right now is their number one priority. back to you. >> all right. thank you. nbc's sarah dallof in ft. hood,

thank you very much. and coming up, republicans just dealt a big health care loss are scrambling to find a winning issue. and you know what that means. back to the irs and benghazi yet again. as we commemorate the 50th anniversary of the signing of the land mark civil rights act, michael beschloss is here to talk mlk. everybody knows that. well, did you know pinocchio was a bad motivational speaker? i look around this room and i see nothing but untapped potential. you have potential. you have...oh boy. geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance.

another new and promising lead in the hunt for flight 370. two navy ships detected new pinging sounds in the southern indian ocean. the pings consistent with the plane's black boxes. the signals are weaker and briefer than the first heard over the weekend which suggest the batteries may be starting to fail. turning now to capitol hill, where the easter recess is one

day away and congress is engaged in a last-minute flurry of activity designed to let the american people know when it comes to the most important legislative issues of the day, they're all over it. no, no, no, not that. that's unemployment insurance for nearly 3 million americans. the senate passed it out last week but the house speaker john boehner says it's unworkable. equal pay, that failed in the senate today. that's just women making noise about being paid less than men. that's not it. jobs bill? get serious. this is congress. the important stuff congress and in particular the republican led house needs to get done before they get out of town, get to the bottom of the irs and benghazi again. >> i'm now of the firm opinion that the information provided by this administration through susan rice on 16 september was manipulated for political purpose. that the talking points were

changed to continue the narrative that al qaeda was on the decline, to admit this was a terrorist attack, seven weeks before the election. >> earlier today, ranking oversight committee member elijah cummings and his counterpart on the armed services committee responded to republicans' obsession with finding something untoward to compound the benghazi tragedy. >> it's time to move on, move past the witch hunt on benghazi and get back to congress doing its job the way it's supposed to do it. >> republicans are playing a game of political got you with our military. chairman issa has led the charge. relentlessly pursuing nonexistent scandals for political purposes. >> also today, congressman comings released a report calling darrell issa's rele relentless report of the irs fawkes scandal mccarthy like. we oppose chairman issa's efforts to recreate the

oversight committee in joe mccarthy's image and we reject his attempts to drag us back to the shameful era that had to do with the responsible oversight. >> that hasn't stopped chairman issa from pressing on. they plan to hold [ inaudible ] former official lois learner in contempt of congress tomorrow for allegedly failing to comply with a congressional subpoena after supposedly waving her fifth amendment rights. something that congressional legal scholars say the committee can't do because learner's fifth amendment assertion was never overruled before issa pulled the plug on the hearing an on congressman cummings microphone. it also hasn't stopped the house ways and means committee chairman dave camp from holding a vote on whether to ask the justice department to actually file criminal charges against learner. the vote passed along party lines 23 to 12. the bottom line, with health care dissipating as a potent political topic and scant red

meat to take home to their tea party base over the recess, republicans are trying to freshen up their favorite faux scandals and conspiracy theories. joining me now to discuss the goings on on capitol hill "washington post" opinion writer dana mill banks. i do want to read the response from lois learner's attorney to the pursuit of criminal charges against her. the attorney writes the timing of today's vote is odd. we have not heard from the house ways and means committee, nor has the committee previously issued a report of its findings. this is just another attempt by republicans to vilify miss learner for political gain. talk about that, dana. it does seem like they have zeroed on lois learner, she is going to be the face of their irs witch hunt and not the white house. >> right. so this was a classic case the ways and means hearing which i was at this morning, first of all, they are saying explicitly they think the person responsible for this wrong doing was lois learner, not part of a culture of corruption in the white house but, in fact, a career employee at the irs. so leaving aside that means

basically the entire investigation fizzled in its attempt to find a skull dugry within the white house, well, so chairman camp of the ways and means had information he would like to deliver to eric holder. he could have called attorney general holder on the phone and given him the information but he wanted to have a big public vote on releasing the information and that wasn't exciting enough so first they had a vote to kick everybody out to have a secret debate on whether or not to provide this information and then they voted to provide the information and released it all anyway. so much for the secret hearing. it became a cirrus. >> it became a circus. we're putting up what they accused her of used her position improperly to influence agency against only conservative organizations, impeded official investigations, may have disclosed confidential taxpayer information. none of that gets to what darrell issa promised his republican base which is that he was going to locate this

conspiracy in the nixon white house and didn't do it. very demonstrably not doing it. >> the irony they're saying her offense was to release confidential taxpayer information. what did they vote to do today? voted to release confidential taxpayer information to prove that lois learner had done something wrong. it adds yet another layer to the farce that's going on. ways and means is relatively serious compared to what's going on over in the darrell issa's oversight committee. ways and means is at least asking holder to launch -- to investigate it which, of course, the justice department is already doing. over in the oversight committee it's just about a contempt vote everybody knows is going nowhere. that's going to be -- >> yeah. >> more fun for us. >> obviously, yeah, the attempt to criminally prosecute this woman really does ratchet up the level of what you might call persecution of her. back to the issa side, while it's not as serious in terms of a legal matter but it is interesting, "huffington post"

did write about this tactic, according to records retrieved by the congressional research service no american has been successfully prosecuted for invoking their fifth amendment rights before congress. congress brought contempt cases 11 times between 1951 and 1968 according to this congressional research service and yet only two of those cases that involved documents not personal testimony were upheld by the courts. it is unprecedented in the sense that they are pursuing a contempt hearing against someone for invoking their constitutional rights. >> that is an element without precedent. there was element of the ways and means decision today to release confidential taxpayer information that is also without any real precedent. when you think about it the whole idea of contempt of congress is a misdemeanor. obviously because so many people have contempt of congress it couldn't be a very serious crime in the first place. the problem is, whenever there is a contempt vote it is almost by definition seeking to hold somebody from the current

administration in contempt and who's going to prosecute that? well that would be the justice department. obviously the justice department isn't going to go along with the opposition party's witch hunt. >> yeah. the same justice department that they so believe is going to now file criminal charges against lois learner, all circular and on all strange. we appreciate you being here. "washington post" dana mill bank, thank you. >> thanks. to an update on our breaking news out of pennsylvania. where police continue to question a 16-year-old sophomore in connection with a stabbing spree at a suburban pittsburgh high school. 19 students and one security guard were injured and we're hearing counselors will be at schools throughout the district to help kids deal with this. stay with us and we'll have more developments coming up.

it's time for we the betweenle. we're joining you in remembering lacey holsworth, a special fan of michigan state university's men's basketball team. princess lacy as she was known

on twitter passed away overnight from cancer and her friendship with msu star player adreian payne inspired many during march madness. payne urged a crowd leading up to the final four to root for lacey in her cancer battle. >> i would like to thank lacey, lacey's family, and everybody for, you know, coming out and supporting me and, you know, just praying for lacey because she's going through some hard times. >> news of the 8-year-old's passing was posted to instagram this morning and since then, your support has poured out over the #rip lacey. you sent tweets commemorating the memory of the girl and her friendship with payne who she called superman saying you have touched the life of many, prayers to her family and adreian payne. add our prayers to that as well. the winners of march madness are giving us something to talk about. university of connecticut star player shabazz naper revealed to reporters that he and other

members of the team sometimes go to bed hungry. watch. >> definitely best to get a scholarship to our university, but the at the end of the day that doesn't cover everything. we have hungry nights we don't have enough money to get food and sometimes, you know, needing money, things like that, you know, to some credit you feel like you need -- like you want something in return. >> uconn has made a ncaa clean sweep with championships for both the men's and women's teams but shabazz's statements are throwing fuel on the fiery debate over whether ncaa players should be paid. this is brewing into a worker's rights issue that you're debating on twitter and facebook. and we're also remembering mary ann anderson who on this day 75 years ago performed on the steps of the lincoln memorial. take a listen. ♪ ♪ my country 'tis of thee sweet

land of liberty ♪ >> anderson was invited to perform by then first lady eleanor roosevelt after the daughters of the american revolution, which roosevelt was a member of, refused to let the african-american perform in their hall. this moment became a milestone in civil rights history and you can join us as we remember another important historical milestone this week, the 50th anniversary of the signing of the civil rights act of 1964. tweet us with the #advancingthe dream or join the conversation with fellow readers on facebook, instagram and msnbc.com and tell us what's important to you. and next, we go in depth on the civil rights era and the relationship between lbj and mlk. and we're getting new details on today's school stabbing outside pittsburgh. the latest next on "the reid report." [ hypnotist ] you are feeling satisfied without standard leather.

you are feeling exhilarated with front-wheel drive. you are feeling powerful with a 4-cylinder engine. [ male announcer ] open your eyes... to the 6-cylinder, 8-speed lexus gs. with more standard horsepower than any of its german competitors. this is a wake-up call. ♪

now an update on the stabbing at a suburban pittsburgh high school. we've just learned that pennsylvania governor tom corbett will hold a live news conference with local officials coming up at 5:00 p.m. eastern. a 16-year-old high school sophomore is in custody accused of stabbing and slashing 19 students and one security guard at franklin regional senior high school in murrysville, pennsylvania. police say an armed police officer, a school security guard and an assistant principal tackled the suspect to stop the bloody rampage. the superintendent says they saved many lives. no word on a motive. the high school will be shut down for an indefinite period of time while law enforcement processes the crime scene. also, today is the second day of a three-day summit to commemorate the 50th anners have of the signing of the civil right act of 1964. in austin, texas, a discussion about to get under way to discuss what impact sports has had on the fight for equality. as we observe this anniversary our current president is dealing with some unique challenges on

that front. lbn and mlk paved the way for barack obama to become president and through that prism we turn to the challenges faced during johnson's time. as the lbj library marks the 50th anniversary of the land mark civil rights law. >> even if we pass this bill, the battle will not be over. it's not just negros, but really, it's all of us, who must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice. and we shall overcome. >> that was president lyndon johnson's speech to special joint session of congress in a television audience of 70 million americans on march 15, 1965. urging congress to pass the voting rights act and using a line from the black civil rights anthem, we shall overcome. that speech came on the heels of

brutal attacks on civil rights workers in selma, alabama, at the hands of state police and a gang of sheriff deputies wealding bull whips, clubs and tear gas. the confrontation known as bloody sunday. it came a full year after johnson signed the civil rights act of 1964. one of the millions of americans who watched lbj's "we shall overcome" speech was 20-year-old john lewis. the civil rights activist one of the dozens who had been savagely beat on that bridge on bloody sunday. he watched the speech with dr. martin luther king, jr. telling npr that tears came down his face, dr. king started crying and we all cried. dr. king said to me, john, we will make it to montgomery and the voting rights act will be passed. and, indeed, it was passed. martin luther king, jr. and lbj the southern former congressman and senate leader whose voting record in congress included opposing anti-lynching voting rights and desegregation bills became unlikely allies in the

push to prose a broad civil rights agenda. part of a phone call between the two men shortly after the assassination of kennedy and johnson's assumption of the office of president. >> you have our support and backing. we know what a difficult period this is. >> it's an impossible period. we got a budget coming up. it's -- we've got nothing to do with it. practically already made. civil rights bill that hasn't passed the house. everybody wants to go home. got a tax bill they haven't touched. we just got the letter -- not letter upon any of them and keep going and i guess they'll say -- i'm going to ask the congress to stay there and pass them all. they won't do it but we'll keep them next year to do it and won't give up an inch. >> that partnership which began after jfk's assassination and essentially ended with the vietnam war produced some of the most significant civil rights legislation in american history. joining us to reexamine that

important relationship is michael beschloss, an excellent historian, just the person i want to talk with about this. >> hi. >> thank you for being here. i want to start you with talking about johnson's evolution. typical southern congressman to a champion of civil rights? >> well, johnson when he ran for the senate in 1948 made one or more speeches that almost sounded white see prem sist, voted against civil rights legislation until the late 1950s. once he was vice president, he wanted to be a national figure. and the moment where things really changed was may of 1963, vice president johnson went to gettysburg for the 100th anniversary and gave a speech that was actually more activist on civil rights than john kennedy was and that's when martin luther king and the people around him knew johnson was someone who even as vice president, might turn out to be very helpful. >> obviously that relationship deteriorated at the point where we got to voietnam but talk abot

the relationship between king and johnson. >> you know, it was sort of like king and kennedy. in the spring of 1963, john kennedy was on the fence about sending a civil rights bill to congress. then came birmingham, helped to be organized by dr. king. fair-minded americans who were wondering about civil rights were disgusted by those pictures of barking dogs attacking teenage civil rights activists down in birmingham and in the spring of 1965, very much the same, johnson was worried about sending a voting rights bill, as you said, it was selma that helped him to do is it. >> i wish we had more time. >> my pleasure. >> thank you so much, sir, for being here. >> always. >> i do want to go take us back to texas where a memorial service for the three victims killed at ft. hood last week is under way. president obama is set to speak shortly. we'll remind you 16 people were wounded when the suspect opened fire on the military base one week ago today. and joining me now, i think we

are either just waiting for the president to start talking, so we are not going to actually talk, but we'll go for a moment with colonel jack jacobs an msnbc military analyst as well as former marine and grio contributor goldie taylor. we can quickly go to goldie and colonel jacobs. what are we expecting to hear from the president today? do we have colonel jacobs? we may not. let's go to goldie taylor. what would you be expecting on behalf really of the families there listening to the president? what are we expecting to hear from the president. >> this president has become unfortunately our comforter in chief. this is the fifth time that this is -- the second time in five years he has been back at ft. hood to address our nation service men and women at a time of their loss. i just think that it's an awesome responsibility, one that our president, you know, steps up to and embraces with some relative ease in terms of, you know, bringing that kind of

compassionate language he needs to comfort these families with. on the other hand this challenges what i believe is our collective humanity. what are we going to do about gun violence in this country, what are we going to do about it in our communities, on our military bases, how are we going to keep our men and women serving on the front lines safe when they are at home? this really challenges us to really talk about, you know, what are we going to do about mental issue, what are we going to do about ptsd, what are we going to do about other issues that may contribute to this? what are we going to do about hand gun ownership on and off military bases. i think this calls once again upon us as a country to answer some of our most pressing questions. i don't doubt the president will address some of that today as well as do as he always has done and stand in the for our service men and women and first lady obama standing with him. >> let's take a listen, a little bit, to the ceremony. we do have sort of the

beginnings of it. the president has not been introduced. can we listen in a little bit to what we're hearing at the ceremony? ♪ and the home of the brave >> okay. we are listening to the ceremony at ft. hood, texas, where the president is expected to speak very shortly. i am joined by colonel jack jacobs with me on set as we await the president. colonel, i mean, these times are obviously difficult for all americans but especially difficult for the military community. >> yeah. military communities are unlike anything else in the united states except very, very small towns. most people know each other, even in big places like ft. hood and ft. bragg and fort lewis. they've run across each other time and time again.

units now are deployed together, they're not individual replacements. they're unit replacements. so when somebody -- when a unit gets deployed overseas the family stays back at the post. they're all very, very close. there's a lot of shared grief and shared worry when the men and women are out fighting and shared joy when they come back. so even though this is basically a city of 150, 200,000 people it still acts like a small town. anything that happens is felt across the post. >> yeah. a small town where uniquely people understand your experience because unlike probably any other small city people could live in, people have been through what you've been through. >> they've all been there which is one of the arguments for universal service. i keep harping on this. we don't do anything, we have very little in common in this country, we don't even have voting in common. a country like afghanistan where you get shot if you vote, has a larger voter turnout than in the

united states. that's something of a disgrace. universal service would give everybody a common experience and quite frankly, whether we fight or don't fight, that's not the issue. it would draw everybody together. >> indeed. we are going to listen in on the service. this is lieutenant general mark milwee speaking now. >> secretary mccue, general and mrs. dempsey, general and mrs. owe de niro, lieutenant governor due hurst, visitors from our nation's capital and the state of texas, soldiers and civilians and most of all, the families and the friends of our fallen, and wounded warriors, thank you all so very deeply for being here today and we sincerely and from our heart of hearts, appreciate your presence and your support an your compassion as we struggle through a very difficult time.

today we mourn, we mourn for those we lost, one week ago, on april 2nd and today we honor the lives they led. the three fallen soldiers came from hometowns as far apart as puerto rico and central illinois they had different hobbies and passions and all had different lives. but they were nighted by a single desire -- united by a single desire a desire to serve their country and their willingness to answer their nation's call in time of war. to the families of the fallen, although all of our words you hear today are inadequate in the face of the magnitude of your loss, we want you all to know that we hear at ft. hood, we hear in central texas, we here in the united states army and the entire nation, want you to know we stand with you, that we grieve with you, and that we

will be here for you, not just today, not just tomorrow, but forever. you're in our hearts and in our prayers and we will never forget your loved one's sacrifice for our nation. to the soldiers who were wounded, and to your families who wish you all a full and complete and speedy recovery, and we here at hood will stop at absolutely nothing to make sure that you and your families are the resources and the care that you need to heal. many of you demonstrated exceptional valor in the face of grave danger and your strength collectively and individually is an inspiration to us all. to the heroic first responders who risked their very lives and to the medical teams who cared for the wounded and the fallen, thank you all, not only for what you did on 2 april, but what you

do every single day in the line of duty. and to the central texas community and to the people all over the country and literally all over the world, who have reached out to us here at ft. hood during this terrible time, your compassion gives us all greater strength. yes, today is a day of mourning, a day of mourning for the fallen, but it's also a day to honor their lives and a service, staff sergeant carlos lazaney-rodriguez, sergeant timothy owens, sergeant first class daniel ferguson, each who made the ultimate sacrifice, tragically not in a war zone in afghanistan or iraq or elsewhere, but here at home, among their brothers and sisters in arms, the pain of losing our comrades cannot extinguish the memory of what made each of them unique and so much beloved. staff sergeant carlos

lazaney-rodriguez came from a-k rico. he enlisted at 18, deployed once to kuwait and twice to iraq, and he provided critical logistical support to units as far flung as ft. bragg in hawaii. during almost 20 years of selfless service, he earned numerous deck racations, including the combat action badge and on april 2nd, he was tragically just months away from a well-earned retirement. and he is survived by his son, his parents, his sisters and a brother, who are here today with us. sergeant timothy owens, was from effingham, a small town in central illinois. and he loved baseball and football and wrestling and tae kwon do, so much so, that he became a black belt and taught

martial arts before joining the army in 2004. he served as a heavy vehicle driver and was stationed at ft. stewart, georgia, and in kuwait before moving here to fort hoot in 2011. in 2005, he deployed for an entire year in support of ""operation iraqi freedom"" and there he earned his combat action badge under fire. he is survived by his wife and his three children and his mother who join us today. and sergeant first class daniel ferguson, grew up in small town mulberry, florida, in a high school he was an outstanding athlete, who played football and baseball and basketball and he also ran track. his two decades of military service, he was stationed in italy and germany and bases throughout the united states. and he, too, deployed to kuwait,

iraq and afghanistan and he, too, earned many awards for outstanding service including a bronze star and three service medals and on that day, the 2nd of april, one week ago, sergeant ferguson died a hero. he was shot as he held a door closed to protect a room full of other soldiers. he put himself in the line of fire to save them. and he is survived by his daughter, his parents, his brothers and sisters, and at the time of his death, he was engaged to be married. every member of the united states military is here today is proud to have served alongside these three soldiers and they are part of eternity now, but they are not gone, they are not forgotten, and they never will be. they endure, they endure in the

hearts of those who loved them and in the memories of the 140,000 soldiers and civilians who make up the ft. hood community and we will honor our fallen, not today, but every day, every day that is to come we will honor them, by striving to be worthy of their sacrifics. in this time of tragedy, we see the true strength of our community and our people, and all of you at ft. hood and all in central texas have been through the fire and you are strong and more determined than ever and although this day is a day of grief, it is also a day of pride. pride in the military policewoman who bravely faced down the gunman and helped to end that violence. many would have take an step back and sought cover. she took a step forward. and the chaplin who is here with us today who was injured as he

helped other soldiers escape from danger and the wounded soldiers who stayed cool under fire, provided first aid to themselves and to others and had the presence of mind to dial 911 even though they were wounded, pride in every soldier and civilian who quickly took decisive action in the face of danger, pride in the talented health care professionals who rapidly cared for 16 wounded soldiers, and our resilient community and the many, many caring, many men and women who have reached out to us with donations and other acts of service and above all, pride in the service and sacrifice of staff sergeant rodriguez, sergeant owens, and sergeant first class ferguson. each of whom gave that last full measure of devotion in the service of their country. to the families of the fallen, to our wounded warriors and loved ones, and to everyone, in our community who is in need of healing, may god bless each and

every one of you and give you peace. thank you again for being with us today. i ask that each of you take care of yourselves, remember the fallen and their families in your prayers, take care of each other, phantom warriors, army strong. >> ladies and gentlemen, the chief of staff of the army, general raymond t. odierno. >> good afternoon, everyone. we come together today to care for our soldiers and their

families who together sacrificed so much over the last 13 years of war. we come together as an army family to grieve the sudden and tragic loss of four of our own. we come together to help 16 wounded soldiers heal and we come together to stand beside the families of the fallen and injured in their time of need. president and mrs. obama, your presence here today speaks volumes of the unwavering support and compassion for our soldiers and their families. distinguished members of congress, thank you for coming down here today. fox, secretary of the army, mccue, great leader of our army, general and mrs. dempsey the chairman, lieutenant governor duehurst and other state leaders, thank you for your support thank you for your

contributions to ft. hood. most importantly i want to thank the soldiers, families and civilians of ft. hood and surrounding community. i want to thank mark milwee and scott schroeder, we are fortunate to have such experienced, dedicated leaders to guide us through these difficult days. our job as leaders is to prepare soldiers for the chaos of war. the loss of any soldier and any circumstance is a tragedy for a unit or for a family. yet, somehow, the loss of comrades in the heat of battle is a risk that we understand and with time, we can accept. that these soldiers were lost at the hands of one of our own

makes this tragedy heartbreaking and inexplicable. this especially hits home for linda and i because ft. hood and the central community has been my family's home away from home for more than seven years having served here as a commander of a brigade, the fourth infantry division and three corps. i have personally experienced the warmth and resiliency of the soldiers and the families and the community, the ft. hood family has been central to the army's success over the last 13 years of war, sharing in our victories and grieving when we lost those dearest to us. you were there for us and for our families when we deployed forces, whether it be to iraq or afghanistan, you were there for us when we struggled to understand and recover from the

events of november 5th, 2009 and the loss of 13 people. today, we are all here to tell you and to show you that our army and our nation are here for you. we cannot help but feel the echos of that most horrible day in the tragedy we now face, for many across the ft. hood community the events last week, we open the wounds of five years ago. we are heartbroken that those same units and soldiers, families and communities, who have supported unit after unit deployments to iraq and afghanistan and sacrificed so much, must endure yet another burden. but we must come together as an army, as a community, and as a nation, to learn from wednesday's tragic events and

support and heal one another. we must come together to identify the risk factors that lead to violence, to address the challenges of mental illness, to enhance the resiliency of our soldiers and their families. any time a soldier believes hurting one's self or others is a solution to the problems they face, we must ensure that the army family is there for them. to show them another way forward and to lift them from their despair. lost to us on wednesday were three soldiers with more than 50 years of service to the united states army. sergeant first class danny ferguson served for nearly 21 years on assignments across america and around the world including four deployments. his fiancee recently shared with us that the army was danny's

life. he was proud to be part of a great service. staff sergeant rodriguez followed in the footsteps of his father, to enlist from his hometown in puerto rico. during his nearly 20 years, carlos was known for being a meticulous soldier, leading from the front, with a tough, but kind, down to earth nature. sergeant timothy owens enlisted in the army in 2004 and served for more than ten years as a motor transport operator including two deployments to iraq and kuwait. the loss of these three soldiers is a terrible tragedy to our army family. our hearts and prayers go out to each of the soldier's families and their units. every day we learn from witnesses and the wounded about the heroic actions of first

responders who prevented the loss of even more lives. we are in-depthed to the first military police officer on scene, a soldier in the 89th military police brigade who advanced alone to confront the shooter in an effort to halt his rampage. we have learned of an army chaplin who sought to protect his fellow soldiers breaking windows and helping them to escape the shooting. and then there's the heroism of sergeant first class ferguson and major patrick miller, who were shot while trying to protect others behind closed doors. they blocked the advance of the shooter and undoubtedly saved the lives of many soldiers. and we are grateful for the rapid reaction and exceptional professionalism of all the emergency responders and hospital triage teams whose actions were nothing short of

extraordinary. there are certain people who are able to step up in the most difficult times and do something heroic. no one quite understands what characteristics will cause someone to display courage or sacrifice to their own safety, but we see it time and time again from the soldiers of this great army. the large majority of our soldiers have shown incredible resiliency and personal growth in the face of repeated deployments as well as the normal stress of our everyday lives. but there's some who have struggled to bounce back and find peace among life's inherent challenges. we do not know why one soldier's strengthened by tough times but another cannot see a way forward. but we must and we will be there

for them. in the days and months ahead our highest priority will be the care for our wounded service members, their families, and the families of the fallen. we will also do everything within our power to investigate every detail, to learn, to adapt and to protect our most valuable resource, the men and women of our u.s. army. i have once again been touched by the inherent strength of the american spirit, that our country was built upon. i'm inspired by the stories about soldiers, families, civilians, communities, businesses, and private organizations, giving so generously of themselves and their resources. the family readiness groups, the red cross, uso, and local businesses who immediately reached out to our ft. hood family. as we have during our difficult times, we will have strength in

unity. we will all stand together as a community we will all stand together as an army and we will all stand together as a nation. we will lift each other up with our compassion, our strength, and resilience because that's who we are. the strength of our nation is our army. the strength of our army is our soldiers. the strength of our soldiers is our families. and that's what makes us army strong. thank you very much. the secretary of the army, the honorable john m. m