President and Michelle Obama bowed their heads before the boots and photos of 13 fallen American soldiers at Fort Hood Tuesday after the president delivered an eulogy: "This is a time of war and these Americans did not die on a foreign field of battle. They were killed here on American soil ... It's the fact that makes the tragedy ever more painful, even more incomprehensible." He went on to memorialize each of the fallen servicemen and women, who ranged in age from 19 to 62. Among the three women and 10 men who died were 21-year-old Pvt. Francheska Velez, who died pregnant as she prepared to return home from Iraq deployment; 22-year-old newlywed Spc. Jason Hunt; and Maj. Libardo Eduardo Caraveo, who learned English when he immigrated to America as a teenager and went on to earn a Ph.D. and work in Ft. Hood's mental-health program. Lt. Gen. Robert Cone, the base's commanding general, also emphasized the heightened tragedy of military lives lost on American soil: "We will never be accustomed to losing one of our own. Never did we expect to pay such a high price at home."
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