Posted on Sat, Nov. 07, 2009

e-mail	print	RSS	reprint
AIM	Digg it	del.icio.us	Facebook

KC-area soldier among those injured in shooting

By DON BRADLEY

Kansas City Star

Army Reserve Spc. Keara Bono's family was working up to the idea of her going to Iraq.

"I didn't know I had to worry about her getting shot down in Texas," her mother, Peggy McCarty, said Thursday night.

Bono, 21, a 2006 graduate of Olathe South High School, was one of 31 people wounded Thursday at the Fort Hood military post in Texas. Thirteen people were killed.

McCarty said she knew nothing about the incident until her mother called and told her to check the news. McCarty said she tried calling and texting Bono but received no response.

Finally, Bono called and told her mother that yes, she was one of the shooting victims, hit in the back. She'd also suffered abrasions on her face.

Her brother, Dustin Bono, said his sister appeared to be fine and was "mad more than anything."

He said she told him, "They shot me! And I'm still here in this country."

She was scheduled to be "boots on the ground" in Iraq on Dec. 7.

Dustin Bono said he was shocked that something like this could happen on a U.S. military post. But he said his sister could handle the situation.

"She's not a punk. She's tough."

Keara, who recently married, lives in Minnesota. Her family said she was on the phone with her husband, Joey Torkelson, when the shooting started. He heard shots, and then screams, and then the phone went dead.

Keara's dad, Steve Bono, owner of KC Outdoor Living, described his daughter as "a buck-10 with a fiery heart." He said she was an excellent student at Olathe South and could have gone to the University of Kansas on a scholarship.

"But she wanted to fight for her country," he said.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.CommentBody@

@Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@