BREMEN — Another former Marshall County resident had some involvement in the Fort Hood tragedy although he was on the responding side.
Last Thursday Mike Hassel, at 1975 graduate of Bremen High School, flew his rescue-air-evacuation helicopter into Fort Hood to ferry out wounded. 

In an e-mail to his father, Dr. C.E. Hassel of Bremen, Mike said, “We were immediately launched, along with 7 other Air-Evac helicopters shortly after the Fort Hood shootings.  I was the first to arrive on the scene and thought I was in the middle of some Hollywood movie production.  It was pure chaos, but we gathered our composure and did our jobs.  It was a mess, but we saved several lives that afternoon and came home exhausted.  We had absolutely no idea what had taken place until we were finally able to return to base and watch the news.”
After graduation from Bremen High School Mike Hassel received an Army ROTC scholarship and went to Indiana State University. He retired from Army active duty in 1997 as a Major and has been flying HEMS (Helicopter Emergency Medical Service) in Texas since.   
He said his interest in flying began when his ex-Air Force pilot father drove him to the Wawasee airport where he took his first flying lesson in a Piper 140 at the age of 15.  Hassel said, “I instantly got hooked on airplanes and helicopters and continued an active 38-year flying career.”
Mike Hassel said of the events at Fort Hood, “In all my years on active duty military I’ve never seen such chaos, but we must have don something good because our critical patients that we flew that horrible afternoon are now in stable condition at Scott & White Medical Center in Temple, Texas.
Dr. Hassel said, “As Mike’s father, I was glad to know he was able to help in such a terrible situation as this.”