The second anniversary of the massacre at Fort Hood passed quietly on 5 November 2011.  The trial of US Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan, the wheelchair-bound accused who faces execution if convicted, is scheduled to begin in March. 

On Saturday in a small private ceremony, some victims’ relatives planned to place wreaths on the fence that now surrounds the boarded-up building where the shootings occurred. Michael Cahill’s widow, Joleen, placed the first wreath there a few months after the rampage, and since then relatives of other victims, the wounded and even emergency personnel have gathered there on some holidays for private ceremonies to honor those who died.

The shooter reportedly yelled “Allahu akbar” and opened fire on a processing line, killing 14:

Capt. John Gaffaney was fatally shot after throwing a chair at the gunman. Spc. Jason Dean “J.D.” Hunt, Staff Sgt. Justin DeCrow and Pfc. Michael Pearson died while trying to protect several nurses at the back of the building. The others who died, most in the front area, were [Maj. Libardo Eduardo Careveo, Lt. Col. Juanita Warman], Capt. Russell Seager, Sgt. Amy Krueger, Spc. Frederick Greene, Pfc. Aaron Nemelka, Pfc. Kham Xiong and Pvt. Francheska Velez, who was pregnant.

The often-uncounted fourteenth victim, an unborn child, would have been a toddler by the time the trial is scheduled to begin.