I occasionally participate in a political forum through email with about 25 to 30 people, scattered all over the country, friends and acquaintances over the years. I have been singing Munley’s praises in this forum. One of the guy’s commented that Munley’s notoriety and the amount of publicity she has garnered is in no small result from the fact that she is a woman. Naturally, he has been taking a lot of flak for going there, then this morning, I read this:

One of two police officers who confronted the alleged Fort Hood killer says he shot Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan before kicking the man’s weapon away, handcuffing him and ending the nation’s worst killing spree on a military base.

Sgt. Mark Todd joined Sgt. Kimberly Munley, hailed as a hero for her actions, in a firefight with Hasan that lasted less than a minute. Todd, 42, was not wounded, but the exchange left Munley injured and Hasan critically wounded.

I find it very interesting that this all happened contemporaneously, that Munley was rushed to the hospital and immediately went under the knife because of her wounds, thus giving no statements at the scene, but Todd (uninjured) and freely able to relate what happened in timely manner, yet from the very first press conference and every one else that ensued up until today, Munley was credited for stopping Husan, no mention of Todd.

“I told him stop and drop your weapons. I identified myself as police and he turned and fired a couple of rounds at me. I didn’t hear him say a word ... he just turned and fired.”

There has been confusion since Thursday’s rampage about whose bullets actually brought down Hasan, who was shot four times. At first, Munley’s supervisor said it was her shot to Hasan’s torso that leveled him, but Army officials would only say that an investigation was under way.

Hmm, now they are tight lipped about who actually brought down Hasan, where is that free flow of information that they have been going with for the last 3 days?

When Todd approached Husan, Husan was still viable and in the process of killing people.

Munley was down by the time he engaged Hasan, Todd said. He wasn’t sure if Munley had wounded the suspect, because “once he started firing at me, I lost track of
her.”

Todd said he fired his Beretta at Hasan. Hasan flinched, Todd said, then slid down against a telephone pole and fell on his back.

It sounds like Todd only fired one round, which brought Husan down, since it has been reported that Husan suffered 4 gunshot wounds, we can assume that Munley shot him 3 times during her firefight with him (prior to Todd arriving at the scene).

And, lets be clear, this in no way reflects poorly on Sgt. Munley. Everything written about her, her bravery and courage and her ability and willingness to confront danger head on is just as valid. But I am scratching my head about the method that the Army chose in disseminating this information. Why was Munley credited for stopping the shooting spree when it should of been obvious to anyone that talked to Todd at the scene that that is not what happened.

I have heard the Jessica Lynch analogy thrown out in describing how the Military bent facts around to make a woman look good. In this case Munley needs no extra credit, her actions speak for themselves. But why were we only told part of the story?

Women have come along way in the Military in the last 20 years. They are flying jets, manning submarines, even entering combat missions. It seems to me that if the Military would just leave them alone and allow them to do their job without interfering with misguided fact rigging, they could make their own hay.

So, here’s to Sgt. Mark Todd, no less a hero, for stepping up, facing down death, and stopping a murderer from murdering again.

UPDATE: I forgot to mention this part:

When Munley arrived at Metroplex Adventist Hospital in Killeen on Thursday she was rushed into surgery within minutes, said Dr. Scott McAninch. He said she had “lost a lot of blood,” especially from a gunshot wound to her left leg that had hit an artery, and praised first responders for using a tourniquet.

“That pretty much saved her life,” McAninch said.

I hope the identity of that first responder comes to light, there were many heroes that day and they all deserve some attaboys.