Fort Hood Hero has local ties

Photo Credit: Tony Lindback.

First Army Division West Commander Maj. Gen. Charles A. Anderson speaks with Pfc. James Armstrong and wife, Roxanne, during a chemical light vigil held at the North Fort Hood training site Friday night in remembrance of comrades and loved ones who were killed and wounded in the shooting tragedy at Fort Hood, Texas, on Nov. 5. Armstrong pulled others out of harm's way despite being shot twice himself.

- Tony Lindback

LEWISTON — A local woman was happy to report Wednesday that her daughter's husband, who was injured in the Fort Hood shooting last week, is OK. The U.S. Army says he's a hero.

Army Pfc. James Armstrong pulled people out of harm's way, despite having been shot twice, according to a release from the U.S. Army.

Armstrong, of Milledgeville, Ga., is married to a former Lewiston woman. He was at Fort Hood for training and processing for deployment with his unit when the bloody massacre took place last week. An Army psychiatrist, Maj. Nidal Hasan, is alleged to have killed 13 people and wounded 29 at the massive Army installation in Texas.

Armstrong's mother-in-law, Sandra Rose of Monmouth, said she hadn't spoken to him directly, but she knew he had been released from the hospital. Armstrong's wife, Roxanne, called her mother immediately when she found out her husband had been wounded.

"She was flipping out," Rose said. "She said, 'James has been shot! He's not supposed to get shot when he's at home! There was a shooter at Fort Hood; they shot James and a bunch of people are dead.'"

James Armstrong had called his wife while being transported to the hospital last Thursday, Rose said. Roxanne Armstrong had been unaware of the shootings at Fort Hood until she received the call from her husband.

"Knowing James, he probably called her right away before she did hear it on the news, because she would flip out," Rose said.

James Armstrong, a mental health specialist with the 1908th Medical Detachment, Combat Stress Control, was shot in the knee and grazed by a bullet on his back, Rose said.

"A bullet hit him above the kneecap and went in and out," she said.

Maj. Gen. Charles A. Anderson, commander of First Division West, highlighted Armstrong in a speech made during a vigil held last Friday, the day after the shooting, according to an Army release.

Rose said James was on crutches and doing well. Her daughter, Roxanne, had been excited the last time they spoke, because the couple had met President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, while they were visiting Fort Hood on Tuesday.

Roxanne Armstrong could not be reached for comment because she was traveling on Wednesday.

rmetzler@sunjournal.com