Fort Hood Survivor Alonzo Lunsford to Attend Nidal Hasan Firing Squad Execution Retired Staff Sgt. Alonzo Lunsford, who was shot in the head during the 2009 Fort Hood attack, plans to watch convicted terrorist Nidal Hasan be executed by firing squad on Dec. 3, 2026, after President Trump approved the order. More than 15 years after surviving several gunshot wounds during a terrorist attack at Fort Hood, retired Staff Sgt. Alonzo Lunsford is preparing to watch the man who shot him be executed. President Donald Trump recently approved the execution of Nidal Malik Hasan to be carried out by firing squad, and Lunsford said he wants to be there to witness it. Lunsford survived being shot several times, including once in the head, during the 2009 attack at Fort Hood in Texas. Hasan, a former Army major, opened fire on unarmed soldiers and civilians at the military installation while shouting Allahu Akbar. The attack killed 13 people and wounded more than 30 others.Alonzo Lunsford Seeks Closure At ExecutionStanding at 6-foot-9, Lunsford said the attack left lasting trauma that still affects him and other survivors, especially during holidays. He explained that attending the execution could bring closure to survivors and grieving families who have carried the weight of that day for years. You live by the sword, you die by the sword, Lunsford said.And the way that he went about doing his deed was a coward's way because we didn't have any way to defend ourselves that day. Lunsford said the execution serves two purposes. It's for two reasons. One is to give the families of the deceased a chance to close a chapter and also the survivors to close a chapter, he said.And it sends a clear message that we will not stand for this activity in any of our armed services or in the United States. He added that the families of those killed will never get a chance to cherish a Christmas, a Thanksgiving, an Easter with their loved ones again. For the survivors, even though we can still do those, celebrate those holidays, we still feel for those ones that we lost that day, he said.Nidal Hasan Remains On Military Death RowMe personally, the holidays will never be the same for me, Lunsford said. But what I can do for the ones that I lost that day is to live for them and to keep fighting so that we will never have this happen again. Hasan remains on military death row at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas. If carried out, his execution would be the first by the U.S. military since 1961.According to a post confirmed by the military on X, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth recommended and President Donald J. Trump approved death by U.S. Army firing squad for convicted terrorist Nidal Malik Hasan, the jihadist who opened fire on unarmed American soldiers at Fort Hood in 2009. Hasan's execution is set to take place Dec. 3, 2026, at Fort Hood, Texas, where the attack took place.Historic Firing Squad Execution At Fort HoodThe Bernie Beck Gate at Fort Hood was pictured at sunrise on Nov. 7, 2009, in Killeen, Texas, two days after the gunman opened fire at the military installation. Soldiers also saluted during a remembrance ceremony marking the first anniversary of the Fort Hood shooting on Nov. 5, 2010. The decision to carry out the execution by firing squad marks a historic moment, as the U.S. military has not executed anyone in more than six decades.Hasan's conviction and death sentence have remained in place while he stayed on military death row at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas.