Navy Secretary Leads Massacre Recovery

The horrific events of Monday at the Washington Navy Yard have brought Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus into the spotlight,an official the general public is not normally aware of.We are dealing with this as a Navy family,Mabus said Monday.We lost friends,family,co-workers.We're gonna marshal all the resources the US Navy and Government have to deal with this.
I meet with families.I write a handwritten letter to every family member.These people were patriots no less than those who go into combat.They died patriots.They died serving their country.We will mourn them in an appropriate manner.*
All of the twelve victims of Aaron Alexis' rampage were civilians,some with the Navy Department,others working for Navy contractors like Alexis himself.Two of the dead were US Naval Academy graduates who went on to serve more than 20 years in the Navy,then continued to work after military retirement in a civilian capacity at the Navy Yard.*
Mr.Mabus has been Navy Secretary since 2009.A surface warfare officer from 1970-72,serving on the cruiser USS Little Rock,he had been state auditor and then Governor of Mississippi from 1988-92.He was Ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 1994-96.In the wake of the Navy Yard tragedy,he has ordered a quick look at the physical security of Navy and Marine Corps installations,to be followed by a longer,in-depth review.
Mabus attended a brief wreath laying ceremony Tuesday morning with Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and others at the Navy Memorial in Washington.The eight victims who were wounded are eligible for treatment at miltary hospitals,and grief counseling has been made available.*
The organisation many of the victims worked for,Navy Sea Systems Command,or NAVSEA,designs and builds Navy ships.The District of Columbia had eagerly sought the location of the NAVSEA building at the Navy Yard.
The Navy Yard is a gated compound that includes the Navy Museum and several other tenants.It is secured by US Marines and civilian guards,and has a mixed military-civilian workforce of about 3,000.*
Aaron Alexis,a former Navy Reserve Aviation Electrician's Mate 3rd Class,was authorised to enter the base and had a Secret clearance as a Navy IT contractor there.Although he had a long history of gun violations and anger management issues,he had no felony convictions and had only recently sought psychiatric treatment at Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals,which do not share such information.
Alexis' father felt his son's troubles stemmed from the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder he acquired while helping to rescue victims of the 9-11 attack.