VOA标准英语2009- Soldiers, Family Come Together To Grieve at

By Greg Flakus
Fort Hood¹, Texas
11 November 2009

 
President Barack Obama speaks at a memorial service at Fort Hood, Texas, 10 Nov 2009
President Obama spoke² at a memorial ceremony at Fort Hood, Texas, Tuesday for the 13 people who died there last week when a gunman opened fire at the large military base. The alleged³ attacker, who was wounded by police, is an army psychiatrist⁴. The attack on a domestic base, allegedly by a fellow soldier has saddened and shocked many servicemen and their families.

The signs of grief are not hard to miss at Fort Hood. Flowers and messages are displayed around the sign at the main entrance and there is a subdued⁵ tone on base. But the soldiers carry on and the military family pulls together.

Among the visitors Tuesday was a group of women who all have sons serving overseas in different branches of the military. They came from various parts of Texas to offer support to soldiers and families here.

 
A gate at Fort Hood
Rhonda Lyn Anderson has two sons in the armed forces at other posts, but she came here to do what she could.

"The only thing we can do is offer them hugs and prayers and just let them know that we know how they feel," said Rhonda Lyn Anderson. "But for the grace of God that could be one of mine."

Katy Canfield has a son in the Marines overseas and she says the attack on this army base has affected⁶ men and women from all branches of the military.

"They are trained to think about what the enemy outside is going to do to you, but they are really not looking at one of their own attacking them and killing⁷ them," said Katy Canfield.

 
Katy Canfield
Soldiers here expressed appreciation⁸ for the president's visit and the support of civilians⁹ who have sent donations to the families of the shooting victims. The 70,000 some people who call Fort Hood home are used to memorial events; some 545 soldiers from this base have died in recent years in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Twenty-one-year-old specialist Chris Love has seen action in Afghanistan, but he says he never expected to confront it here.

"It is a real shock because when we come back from deployment¹⁰ we are expecting nice quiet surroundings where we feel safe again and we can get over what happened when we were overseas and something like this, especially on the base, it really shakes a lot of people, especially new people to the Army," said Chris Love.

 
Specialist Chris Love 
But Sergeant¹¹ Perry Osburn says soldiers remain comfortable on this base and do not worry about another attack.

"We cannot let this make us afraid, you know what I am saying? You just got to keep moving on," said Sergeant Osburn.

This was a day to reflect and to remember those who died, but it was also a day for the army family to come together and to carry on. Flags remain at half staff, but the routine at this large base is back to normal and many soldiers say that is the best tribute they can give to the fallen, to carry on the mission and carry out their duty to the nation.

1 hood   

n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖

参考例句：

• She is wearing a red cloak with a hood.她穿着一件红色带兜帽的披风。
• The car hood was dented in.汽车的发动机罩已凹了进去。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

4 psychiatrist   

n.精神病专家；精神病医师

参考例句：

• He went to a psychiatrist about his compulsive gambling.他去看精神科医生治疗不能自拔的赌瘾。
• The psychiatrist corrected him gently.精神病医师彬彬有礼地纠正他。

5 subdued   

adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He seemed a bit subdued to me. 我觉得他当时有点闷闷不乐。
• I felt strangely subdued when it was all over. 一切都结束的时候，我却有一种奇怪的压抑感。

6 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

7 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

8 appreciation   

n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨

参考例句：

• I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to you all.我想对你们所有人表达我的感激和谢意。
• I'll be sending them a donation in appreciation of their help.我将送给他们一笔捐款以感谢他们的帮助。

9 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

10 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

11 sergeant   

n.警官，中士

参考例句：

• His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
• How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹？