ARLINGTON, Va. (Nov. 24, 2009) -- Lt. Col. Juanita Warman, who spent 25 years in the Army on active duty and in the Reserve, was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery Monday. Warman was one of the 13 people killed in the shootings at Fort Hood, Texas, Nov. 5.
Warman, a nurse practitioner, was at the Soldier Readiness Processing Center preparing for a late November deployment to Iraq.
She graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a degree in nursing. She was a psychiatric nurse practitioner and an expert in post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury.
While working at the VA Medical Center at Perry Point, Md., she helped set up the PTSD program for the Yellow Ribbon reintegration program, which helps Soldiers in their transition from deployment to daily life.
She was recognized for having a special interest in helping female veterans get through PTSD, as their symptoms manifest themselves differently than in their male counterparts.
She also served in Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, where she received an Army Commendation Medal in 2006 for her efforts working with wounded warriors being treated there.
She was laid to rest in section 59 of the cemetery. After a brief service in the ANC Administration Building, Warman's casket was transferred to the caisson at McClellan Circle.
The U.S. Army Band "Pershing's Own" led the way, playing a somber tune, and they were followed by Soldiers from the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard), the caisson and more than 50 mourners on foot.
After the casket was escorted to the gravesite, Chaplain Capt. Jason Palmer read a sermon, and the firing party followed suit by firing three volleys in tribute to the fallen Soldier.
American flags were given to Warman's husband Phillip, her daughters Tawnya Pattillo and Melissa Czemerda and her mother Eva Waddle. Each flag was touched to the tip of the casket before it was handed to a family member by Maj. Gen. Robert J. Kasulke, commanding general, U.S. Army Reserve Medical Command.
After family members received the flags, they were consoled by Brenda Koch, an Arlington Lady; Secretary of the Army John McHugh, and Army Chief of Staff Gen. George W. Casey Jr., among others.
Warman is survived by her husband, two daughters, three stepchildren and eight grandchildren, as well as her mother and six siblings.
President Barack Obama, at the memorial service at Fort Hood Nov. 10, mentioned each of the victims by name. He spoke of Warman as "the daughter and granddaughter of Army veterans. She was a single mom who put herself through college and graduate school, and served as a nurse practitioner while raising her two daughters."
Obama said Warman, as well as the other 12 men and women who perished that day, will leave a legacy that will far surpass the tragedy that took their lives.
"Their memory will be honored in the places they lived and by the people they touched. Their life's work is our security, and the freedom that we all too often take for granted," Obama said. "Every evening that the sun sets on a tranquil town; every dawn that a flag is unfurled; every moment that an American enjoys life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness - that is their legacy."
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