Some of the victims

Private First Class Aaron Thomas Nemelka
Nemelka, 19, of the Salt Lake City suburb of West Jordan, chose to join the Army instead of going on a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, his uncle Christopher Nemelka said. “As a person, Aaron was as soft and kind and as gentle as they come, a sweetheart,’’ his uncle said. “What I loved about the kid was his independence of thought.’’ Aaron Nemelka, the youngest of four children, was scheduled to be deployed to Afghanistan in January, his family said. Nemelka enlisted in the Army in October 2008.

Private First Class Michael Pearson
Pearson, 21, of the Chicago suburb of Bolingbrook, quit what he figured was a dead-end furniture company job to join the military about a year ago. Pearson’s mother, Sheryll, said the 2006 Bolingbrook High School graduate joined the military because he was eager to serve his country and broaden his horizons. “He was the best son in the whole world,’’ she said. “He was my best friend and I miss him.’’

Specialist Jason Dean Hunt
Hunt, 22, of Frederick, Okla., went into the military after graduating from Tipton High School in 2005 and had gotten married just two months ago, said his mother, Gale Hunt. He had served 3 1/2 years in the Army, including a stint in Iraq. Hunt, known as J.D., was “just kind of a quiet boy and a good kid, very kind,’’ said Kathy Gray, an administrative assistant at Tipton Schools. His mother said he was family-oriented. “He didn’t go in for hunting or sports,’’ Gale Hunt said. “He was a very quiet boy who enjoyed video games.’’

Sergeant Amy Krueger
Krueger, 29, of Kiel, Wis., joined the Army after the 2001 terrorist attacks and had vowed to take on Osama bin Laden, her mother, Jeri Krueger, said. Amy Krueger arrived at Fort Hood on Tuesday and was scheduled to be sent to Afghanistan in December, the mother told the Herald Times Reporter of Manitowoc. Jeri Krueger recalled telling her daughter that she could not take on bin Laden by herself. “Watch me,’’ her daughter replied.

Private First Class Kham Xiong
Kham Xiong, 23, of St. Paul, a 2004 graduate of Community of Peace Academy, enjoyed hunting and fishing. “The sad part is that he had been taught and been trained to protect and to fight. Yet it’s such a tragedy that he did not have the opportunity to protect himself and the base,’’ his father, Chor Xiong, told KSTP-TV through an interpreter. Xiong’s 17-year-old brother, Robert, described Kham as “the family clown, just a real good outgoing guy.’’

Michael Grant Cahill
Cahill, a 62-year-old physician assistant, suffered a heart attack two weeks ago and returned to work at the base as a civilian employee after taking just one week off for recovery, said his daughter Keely Vanacker. “He survived that. He was getting back on track, and he gets killed by a gunman,’’ Vanacker said. Cahill, of Cameron, Texas, helped treat soldiers returning from tours of duty or preparing for deployment. Often, Vanacker said, Cahill would walk young soldiers where they needed to go, just to make sure they got the right treatment. “He loved his patients, and his patients loved him,’’ said Vanacker, 33, the oldest of Cahill’s three children. “He just felt his job was important.’’

Captain Russell Seager
Seager, 51, of Racine, Wis., was a nurse practitioner who worked with veterans struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder at the Clement J. Zablocki Veterans Administration Center. He was part of the 467th Medical Detachment from Madison, Wis. “He just wanted to help the soldiers because they helped us,” said his uncle, Larry Seager, of Mauston, Wis. “And then he got shot by a psychiatrist also.”

Juanita Warman
Warman, 55, was a military physician assistant with two daughters and six grandchildren. Her sister, Margaret Yaggie of Roaring Branch in north-central Pennsylvania, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that her sister attended Pittsburgh Langley High School and put herself through school at the University of Pittsburgh. She said her sister spent most of her career in the military.

SOURCE: Associated Press, New York Times