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Ft. Benning Holds Memorial for Little Rock Shooting Victim
Stefanie Tiso
Story Created:
Jun 5, 2009 at 3:00 PM CST
Story Updated:
Jun 6, 2009 at 12:20 PM CST
Fort Benning remembers one of its own. Private William Long was killed in the attack on a recruiting station in Little Rock, Arkansas on Monday. The 23-year-old recently graduated from basic training at Fort Benning.
“He was a respectable guy, he was a good guy, a good soldier,” said PVT. Andrew Diggs.
“I'm going through a lot of this emotional stuff right now and stuff right now and I just can't imagine how much the family's going through right now,” said PVT. James Wall.
Wall says finding out about the attack from his sergeant came with a mix of emotions.
“It was more angry at first. And then I got pretty sad.”
“Makes me upset that just because you're in uniform, someone's going to try to kill you just because you're in uniform,” explained PVT. Logan Freda.
23-year-old Abdulhakim Muhammad is charged with killing long and injuring another soldier. The suspect is a U.S. citizen who changed his name after converting to Islam. According to police, Muhammad said he shot the two outside of the army recruiting center because of, "what they had done to Muslims in the past." Private Diggs says the incident makes him feel stronger as a soldier. Still, he can't stop thinking about his friend.
“I thought about him since the minute I heard about it. I've thought about it every second of every day.”
A public funeral will be held for Long in Arkansas on Monday. He will be buried at the Arkansas State Veterans Cemetery.
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