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San Diegan among those killed last week at Fort Hood
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John Gaffaney, 56, of Serra Mesa, was among those killed at Fort Hood last week.
Military officials over the weekend released a full list of the 13 individuals killed last Thursday in the massacre at Fort Hood.
Among the dead was a San Diego County government employee and Serra Mesa resident who recently deployed with the Army.
John Gaffaney, 56, a supervisor in the county’s Adult Protective Services department, was one of those killed when Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan allegedly opened fire in a crowded medical building. Thirty others were injured, making it the nation’s worst-ever attack on a stateside military base.
Ellen Schmeding, assistant deputy director for San Diego County’s Health and Human Services Agency, sent an e-mail message to county employees to inform them of Gaffaney’s death.
“We all admired and respected John so very much for his commitment to do what he could to help during the current conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. He was an inspiration to all of us in so many ways,” Schmeding wrote.
Gaffaney was a psychiatric nurse and worked for two decades in San Diego County, where he helped elderly victims of abuse and neglect.
Gaffaney, the father of a grown son, traveled to Fort Hood last week for a yearlong overseas deployment. Before he worked for the county, he had been in the Army, where he earned the rank of major.
To all those who were killed or injured last week, this country owes you a lot for your service to all of us.
For individuals like John Gaffaney, putting country first was never in doubt.
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