“My name is First Lieutenant Patrick Cook of the 49th Transportation Battalion, Fort Hood, Texas, and this past Wednesday I found myself trapped in an enclosed room with fourteen of my fellow Soldiers, one of whom was barricading the door against a madman with a .45 pistol when he was fatally shot.”
That’s the way a letter detailing a soldier’s experience during last week’s Fort Hood massacre begins.
The letter, which Cook posted to Facebook Monday night, provides the gripping and tragic account of Sgt. First Class Daniel Ferguson’s final moments in which he sacrificed himself to save his fellow soldiers.
“Through what I can only describe as a miracle, he somehow found enough strength to continue pushing against that door until the shooter gave up and went elsewhere, at which time he collapsed,” Cook wrote. “Nearly a week later, I can still taste his blood in my mouth from when I and my comrades breathed into his lungs for 20 long minutes while we waited for a response from the authorities. This Soldier’s name was Sergeant First Class Daniel Ferguson, and his sacrifice loaned me the rest of my life to tell this story.”
