President Obama and the First Lady will be among the thousands expected to attend a memorial service at Fort Hood tomorrow to pay tribute to the victims of last week's mass shooting.
At Fort Hood Monday, soldiers prepared the parade field in front of the three corps headquarters for Tuesday's memorial service.
Just a mile off post, it was pretty much business as usual in Killeen. But high above the daily routine was the flag at American Legion Post 223 -- at half staff -- serving as a reminder of those who were killed and wounded in last Thursday's shooting spree.
"Like 9-11, a total shock, couldn't believe it happened but it did and now it's up to us to recover from it," said Henry Diesi, a Vietnam Veteran.
"We are still mourning and will probably be mourning for awhile," said Cedric Medford, a local business owner.
Medford served in the army for 10 years and did two tours of duty in Iraq. Two of his friends were wounded in Thursday's shooting. He was asked if he ever thought there would ever be a day when someone would do this on a military post.
"Never, never ever, I do not think anyone ever expected that, not just being a soldier, this is hard, this is a big blow," Medford said.
Back on post, the set up continued. The memorial service will seat 2-thousand with standing room for thousands of other soldiers and invited guests.
"The ceremony that we do tomorrow will be our traditional memorial service, and so it will be familiar and comfortable to many of our soldiers, the added benefit, of course is the significance of having the President of the United States here, and all that represents to the Fort Hood community," said Lt. Gen. Bob Cone, the Fort Hood Commanding General.
Soldiers we talked to were glad the President was coming, but saddened over the reason the Commander in Chief is making his first trip to Fort Hood.
"My reaction is like somebody came into my home and hurt us, because Fort Hood is our home. It's our home, a soldier's home, it hurt me very much," said Sgt. Ernest Soliz.
The public is invited to tomorrow's memorial service.
Gates open at 10am, with the services scheduled to begin at one.
