TEMPLE (November 7, 2009)—Gov. Rick Perry, accompanied by Central Texas State Reps. Ralph Sheffield and Sid Miller, visited Saturday at Scott & White Hospital in Temple with some of the wounded survivors of Thursday’s deadly shooting at Fort Hood and said afterward his conversations with the troops were humbling.

“It was an honor for us to meet with several of the victims,” he said.

Perry said there's no telling how many lives the soldiers saved because of their "selfless and purposeful actions."

Perry also praised the response of the Fort Hood community, where hundreds lined up to give blood in the hours immediately after the shooting.

Perry, who's a former Air Force pilot, said the wounded soldiers kept telling him it was their honor to be able to serve their country.

He said he told the wounded soldiers that the entire state is behind them, and that "there's 24 million Texans praying for them and wishing them well."

“To those whose lives have been shaken by this isolated incident: you need to know that it communicates less about the safety of our society or the condition of the human soul, and much more about the way people look out for their neighbors in trying times,” he said.