Spc. Grant Moxon of Lodi was sitting on a chair in a room at Fort Hood, his head bent over some pre-deployment paperwork, when a man walked in the building and opened fire Nov. 5.

Moxon, who had arrived in Texas a week earlier as a member of the Madison-based 467th Medical Detachment, dropped to the floor.

“The first thing I thought was, ‘It’s training. It’s a mass casualty exercise or something,’” he said. “They train us for things like this, so all your training kicks in. It’s instinct from that point on. Your instincts take over, and you do what you’ve been trained to do.”

The gunshots kept coming, and Moxon, 23, took a bullet in the leg.

“I got hit, and I hit the floor, just trying to get out of the way, just trying to get out of the line of fire,” he said. “It didn’t really set in until a little while later that I’d gotten hit. My first instinct was to find cover, make sure people were behind cover, then get out away from the shooter.”

Moxon left the building.

“It hits you. ‘I’ve got a hole in my leg. This is definitely real.’”

Moxon described the attack in an interview with the State Journal at the Dane County Regional Airport on Friday, when he was greeted by his parents, Dave and Kathy Moxon, upon his return to Wisconsin for the first time after the shooting.

He was one of more than 43 soldiers injured in the rampage that left 13 people dead. Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, a military psychiatrist, is accused in the killings.

Two Wisconsin soldiers and another attached to the 467th were killed in the rampage. In addition to Moxon, three members of the unit, including two from Wisconsin, were injured.

Bullet still in his leg

Moxon said the bullet that hit him is still lodged in his left thigh.

“Most likely I will always have this bullet in my leg,” he said, walking with a cane for support. “I’m still kind of sore, but I’m healing quickly.”

Moxon won’t be deploying to Afghanistan in the next few months with others from the 467th Medical Detachment. But it’s possible that after he heals he’ll work at the Madison headquarters of the 467th, at 1402 S. Park St.

The unit sent 15 soldiers to Fort Hood, in central Texas, about a week before the shooting, and they were joined with other soldiers to create a unit of 43 mental health professionals and others who counsel soldiers.

The 467th is a relatively small, specialized unit that helps members of the military manage combat stress at locations close to the fighting.

Moxon, who graduated from Lodi High School and UW-La Crosse with a degree in psychology, said the Nov. 5 shooting wasn’t like combat.

“Over there, you’ve got your body armor, you’ve got your weapon, you can protect yourself, but this was just like shooting fish in a barrel,” he said.

A brush with death colors the rest of your life, Moxon said.

“I’m definitely not the same person I was two weeks ago,” the soldier said. “I got shot. Your outlook on life changes. It definitely gives you a different perspective on everything. A lot of things that used to seem like a big deal before doesn’t matter that much anymore.”

“I’ve got a lot more to be thankful for,” he said. “And some things just don’t really seem as bad now.”

Unit members killed were Capt. Russell Seager, 51, of Mount Pleasant; Sgt. Amy Krueger, 29, of Kiel; and Maj. L. Eduardo Caraveo, 52, of Woodbridge, Va. Wounded were Moxon; Capt. Dorothy Carskadon, who had an apartment in Monona and was originally from the state of Oregon; Sgt. Shawn Manning of Lacey, Wash.; and Spc. John Pagel, 28, of North Freedom.

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