Thomas “Tommy” Vecera grew up in Flower Mound Texas, not far from Fort Hood.

He calls Everett Washington home now but is scheduled to be deployed to Afghanistan soon.

That’s why he was back in central Texas, at the soldier processing center at Fort Hood last week, getting prepped for deployment when Major Nidal Malik Hasan began shooting fellow soldiers on Post.

I spoke to Tommy about what he saw and heard last Thursday afternoon.  His description of the events were as vivid and chilling as any I’ve heard so far.

Tommy witnessed the carnage, helped patch some of the first wounded, then watched the end of the killer’s rampage and saw with his own eyes the heroic actions civilian police Sergeant Kimberly Munley who along with Sgt. Mark Todd brought the spree to an end.

Vecera says he heard the initial shots and then people rushed wounded into the building he was in next door to the scene.  “We started assisting the soldiers, trying to figure out what was going on. Everyone was screaming, running around … our main concern was taking care of the soldiers that were down.”

“Did you ever see the shooter?” I asked.

“Later on …  I looked out the window and at that time, I saw the gunman come out of one of the buildings. ”

“What was he doing?”

“He was waving the gun around and firing at the crowd that was running from the building.”

“Shooting at people running away?”

“Yes sir”

“Did you see the other officers arrive on the scene and shoot him?”

“Yes sir I did see the initial one officer arrive at the scene. I could see it. I was looking out the window. I could see her approaching where he was at, and then she turned the corner and basically there was a face off.”

“You witnessed this?” I asked, surprised he was even being allowed to relay this first-hand account.

“Yes sir I did.”

“They were both probably about 20 feet away from each other, they were shooting, just both shooting each other. I didn’t know who was hit at the time. The officer retreated back behind the building and he followed her. I think she retreated to get a better shot at him. She retreated back, he followed her and at that point he shot her again.”

Vecera still seemed in a bit stunned and shocked as he recalled the events of the day. I asked what was going through his mind as the scene played out in front of him.

“It was hard to … it was just right in front of me and I couldn’t do anything. I could not do anything and uh … I was looking out the window and watched it all take place and I was helpless at that point.”

He told me he’s relived it many times and gotten support from counselors and fellow soldiers in his unit.

He hasn’t been in theatre before but says “it definitely felt like what I would imagine a combat zone to be. Bullets flying, people running, people screaming, people who had been hit asking for help.”

“I kept moving to help each of the fallen soldiers that I could, moving around the building to assist where I could.”

He and others used whatever they had available to treat victims. PFC Melinda Martinez told me she used feminine hygiene pads on bullet wounds, and strips of clothing for tourniquets.

Vecera says his resolve is not shaken.

“We need to press on” he told me. “We need to honor the fallen soldiers and press on with the mission.”