James Joyner disapproves of the president calling those killed at Ft. Hood heroes:
The people aboard Flight 93 who took on the hijackers to prevent them from crashing into an unknown target? Heroes. The people in the Towers and the Pentagon who responded to crisis by trying to help others? Heroes. The firefighters and police officers who rushed into the burning buildings at great personal risk to save others? Definitely: Heroes.
Similarly, police Sergeant Kim Munley, who shot and captured Major Nidal Malik Hasan, doubtless preventing him from killing more people, was a hero.
Most of those who died, on both 9/11 and that day at Fort Hood, by contrast, had no opportunity for heroism. They were taken by surprise while going about their daily routine and murdered. They did not “give” their lives; they were robbed of them.