A woman with Joint Base Lewis-McChord ties is among the 59 people who died when an gunman opened fired from a hotel window into a crowd at a music festival, according to CNN.
She and her husband -- high school sweethearts -- had just moved from Washington state to West Virginia, according to a military publication associated with JBLM.
Northwest Military reports that Denise Burditus was the former president of the Association of the United States Army's subchapter in Lacey. She also worked for Heritage Bank in the Lacey area.
Tony is a retired Green Beret with JBLM's 1st Special Forces Group, Northwest Military reports. The couple was in Las Vegas for a weekend getaway.
Scroll down to see the CNN interview, and keep reading.
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Tony told CNN's Anderson Cooper that like most people at the country music concert, he and his wife Denise first thought the gunfire that erupted during the show was fireworks.
"It was during the second burst that we knew -- and started ... trying to get out of there," he said. Then a bullet hit his wife.
About seven hours after his wife posted the pre-concert photo as her profile picture, Tony Burditus updated his own Facebook status.
"It saddens me to say that I lost my wife of 32 years, a mother of two, soon to be grandmother of five .... in the Las Vegas shooting," he wrote. "Denise passed in my arms. I LOVE YOU BABE."
Burditus planned to stay in Las Vegas until his wife's remains could be transported back to West Virginia.
"Denise always had a smile on her face," he said. "And Denise never met a stranger."
Cox Media Group
