McKINNEY, Texas — Just over four months ago, one of the nation's largest military bases came under attack. The accused shooter was one of their own, Army Major Nidal Hasan.
Healing hasn't been easy for those who survived the November 5 attack at Fort Hood.
It's been even harder for the families of those who didn't.
Thirteen people died in the shooting rampage. Among them, Specialist Jason Dean Hunt. He was known as "J.D." to his sister Leila Hunt-Willingham of McKinney. For her, grief and honor go hand-in-hand.
"I live to honor him." she said. "I don't want people to forget about him."
That mission has kept her going.
Hunt was an infantryman. He spent 18 months in Iraq. Hunt-Willingham and her parents worried every day until he came home. That was eight months before the Fort Hood shootings.
"As the day went by, I texted him probably 50 times," Hunt-Willingham recalled after finding out about the shootings from her dad.
It wasn't until eight hours later that she learned her brother had died.
Since that time, she's looked for answers. Hunt-Willingham has spoken to survivors and toured the site where it happened.
"I'm still searching for that person who will say, 'Yeah, I held your brother's hand when he died." For Hunt-Willingham, healing comes with knowledge and the power to remember.
That's why she and three friends woke up early Sunday morning and headed to downtown Dallas to run the Rock 'n' Roll 1/2 Marathon. They're running to remember the fallen from that day, and to raise money for T.A.P.S., the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors.
Hunt-Willingham wore a shirt with her brother's picture on it. Her running partner, Army Reserve Sgt. Jeanette Juroff, lined her arm with the names of those who died.
Sgt. Juroff was there that day. She aided the injured.
And now she is aiding the broken-hearted.
But on Sunday, Leila Hunt-Willingham wasn't sad; she said she was inspired during her 13.1-mile journey.
"It's good. I feel like he's here," she said.
