President Obama at Fort Hood: Greatness Before Our Very Eyes November 12, 2009
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More beyond the fold
MSNBC Reports
The Los Angeles Times adds: “The speech left some of the thousands of military personnel and civilians in attendance in tears. It appeared that Obama too had to compose himself at times.”
Full text from Whitehouse.gov
THE PRESIDENT: To the Fort Hood community; to Admiral Mullen; General Casey; General Cone; Secretary McHugh; Secretary Gates; most importantly, to family, friends and members of our Armed Forces. We come together filled with sorrow for the 13 Americans that we have lost; with gratitude for the lives that they led; and with a determination to honor them through the work we carry on.
This is a time of war. Yet these Americans did not die on a foreign field of battle. They were killed here, on American soil, in the heart of this great state and the heart of this great American community. This is the fact that makes the tragedy even more painful, even more incomprehensible.
For those families who have lost a loved one, no words can fill the void that’s been left. We knew these men and women as soldiers and caregivers. You knew them as mothers and fathers; sons and daughters; sisters and brothers.
But here is what you must also know: Your loved ones endure through the life of our nation. Their memory will be honored in the places they lived and by the people they touched. Their life’s work is our security, and the freedom that we all too often take for granted. Every evening that the sun sets on a tranquil town; every dawn that a flag is unfurled; every moment that an American enjoys life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness — that is their legacy.
Neither this country — nor the values upon which we were founded — could exist without men and women like these 13 Americans. And that is why we must pay tribute to their stories.
Chief Warrant Officer Michael Cahill had served in the National Guard and worked as a physician’s assistant for decades. A husband and father of three, he was so committed to his patients that on the day he died, he was back at work just weeks after having had a heart attack.
Major Libardo Eduardo Caraveo spoke little English when he came to America as a teenager. But he put himself through college, earned a PhD, and was helping combat units cope with the stress of deployment. He’s survived by his wife, sons and step-daughters.
Staff Sergeant Justin DeCrow joined the Army right after high school, married his high school sweetheart, and had served as a light wheeled mechanic and satellite communications operator. He was known as an optimist, a mentor, and a loving husband and loving father.
After retiring from the Army as a major, John Gaffaney cared for society’s most vulnerable during two decades as a psychiatric nurse. He spent three years trying to return to active duty in this time of war, and he was preparing to deploy to Iraq as a captain. He leaves behind a wife and son.
Specialist Frederick Greene was a Tennessean who wanted to join the Army for a long time, and did so in 2008, with the support of his family. As a combat engineer he was a natural leader, and he is survived by his wife and two daughters.
Specialist Jason Hunt was also recently married, with three children to care for. He joined the Army after high school. He did a tour in Iraq, and it was there that he reenlisted for six more years on his 21st birthday so that he could continue to serve.
Staff Sergeant Amy Krueger was an athlete in high school, joined the Army shortly after 9/11, and had since returned home to speak to students about her experience. When her mother told her she couldn’t take on Osama bin Laden by herself, Amy replied: “Watch me.”
Private First Class Aaron Nemelka was an Eagle Scout who just recently signed up to do one of the most dangerous jobs in the service — diffuse bombs — so that he could help save lives. He was proudly carrying on a tradition of military service that runs deep within his family.
Private First Class Michael Pearson loved his family and loved his music, and his goal was to be a music teacher. He excelled at playing the guitar, and could create songs on the spot and show others how to play. He joined the military a year ago, and was preparing for his first deployment.
Captain Russell Seager worked as a nurse for the VA, helping veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress. He had extraordinary respect for the military, and signed up to serve so that he could help soldiers cope with the stress of combat and return to civilian life. He leaves behind a wife and son.
Private Francheska Velez, daughter of a father from Colombia and a Puerto Rican mother, had recently served in Korea and in Iraq, and was pursuing a career in the Army. When she was killed she was pregnant with her first child, and was excited about becoming a mother.
Lieutenant Colonel Juanita Warman was the daughter and granddaughter of Army veterans. She was a single mom who put herself through college and graduate school, and served as a nurse practitioner while raising her two daughters. She also left behind a loving husband.
Private First Class Kham Xiong came to America from Thailand as a small child. He was a husband and father who followed his brother into the military because his family had a strong history of service. He was preparing for his first deployment to Afghanistan.
These men and women came from all parts of the country. Some had long careers in the military. Some had signed up to serve in the shadow of 9/11. Some had known intense combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, and some cared for those did. Their lives speak to the strength, the dignity, the decency of those who serve, and that’s how they will be remembered.
For that same spirit is embodied in the community here at Fort Hood, and in the many wounded who are still recovering. As was already mentioned, in those terrible minutes during the attack, soldiers made makeshift tourniquets out of their clothes. They braved gunfire to reach the wounded, and ferried them to safety in the backs of cars and a pickup truck.
One young soldier, Amber Bahr, was so intent on helping others, she did not realize for some time that she, herself, had been shot in the back. Two police officers — Mark Todd and Kim Munley — saved countless lives by risking their own. One medic — Francisco de la Serna — treated both Officer Munley and the gunman who shot her.
It may be hard to comprehend the twisted logic that led to this tragedy. But this much we do know — no faith justifies these murderous and craven acts; no just and loving God looks upon them with favor. For what he has done, we know that the killer will be met with justice — in this world, and the next.
These are trying times for our country. In Afghanistan and Pakistan, the same extremists who killed nearly 3,000 Americans continue to endanger America, our allies, and innocent Afghans and Pakistanis. In Iraq, we’re working to bring a war to a successful end, as there are still those who would deny the Iraqi people the future that Americans and Iraqis have sacrificed so much for.
As we face these challenges, the stories of those at Fort Hood reaffirm the core values that we are fighting for, and the strength that we must draw upon. Theirs are the tales of American men and women answering an extraordinary call — the call to serve their comrades, their communities, and their country. In an age of selfishness, they embody responsibility. In an era of division, they call upon us to come together. In a time of cynicism, they remind us of who we are as Americans.
We are a nation that endures because of the courage of those who defend it. We saw that valor in those who braved bullets here at Fort Hood, just as surely as we see it in those who signed up knowing that they would serve in harm’s way.
We are a nation of laws whose commitment to justice is so enduring that we would treat a gunman and give him due process, just as surely as we will see that he pays for his crimes.
We’re a nation that guarantees the freedom to worship as one chooses. And instead of claiming God for our side, we remember Lincoln’s words, and always pray to be on the side of God.
We’re a nation that is dedicated to the proposition that all men and women are created equal. We live that truth within our military, and see it in the varied backgrounds of those we lay to rest today. We defend that truth at home and abroad, and we know that Americans will always be found on the side of liberty and equality. That’s who we are as a people.
Tomorrow is Veterans Day. It’s a chance to pause, and to pay tribute — for students to learn the struggles that preceded them; for families to honor the service of parents and grandparents; for citizens to reflect upon the sacrifices that have been made in pursuit of a more perfect union.
For history is filled with heroes. You may remember the stories of a grandfather who marched across Europe; an uncle who fought in Vietnam; a sister who served in the Gulf. But as we honor the many generations who have served, all of us — every single American — must acknowledge that this generation has more than proved itself the equal of those who’ve come before.
We need not look to the past for greatness, because it is before our very eyes.
This generation of soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen have volunteered in the time of certain danger. They are part of the finest fighting force that the world has ever known. They have served tour after tour of duty in distant, different and difficult places. They have stood watch in blinding deserts and on snowy mountains. They have extended the opportunity of self-government to peoples that have suffered tyranny and war. They are man and woman; white, black, and brown; of all faiths and all stations — all Americans, serving together to protect our people, while giving others half a world away the chance to lead a better life.
In today’s wars, there’s not always a simple ceremony that signals our troops’ success — no surrender papers to be signed, or capital to be claimed. But the measure of the impact of these young men and women is no less great — in a world of threats that no know borders, their legacy will be marked in the safety of our cities and towns, and the security and opportunity that’s extended abroad. It will serve as testimony to the character of those who served, and the example that all of you in uniform set for America and for the world.
Here, at Fort Hood, we pay tribute to 13 men and women who were not able to escape the horror of war, even in the comfort of home. Later today, at Fort Lewis, one community will gather to remember so many in one Stryker Brigade who have fallen in Afghanistan.
Long after they are laid to rest — when the fighting has finished, and our nation has endured; when today’s servicemen and women are veterans, and their children have grown — it will be said that this generation believed under the most trying of tests; believed in perseverance — not just when it was easy, but when it was hard; that they paid the price and bore the burden to secure this nation, and stood up for the values that live in the hearts of all free peoples.
So we say goodbye to those who now belong to eternity. We press ahead in pursuit of the peace that guided their service. May God bless the memory of those that we have lost. And may God bless the United States of America. (Applause.)
Comments
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Gives the obama crew plenty of time to clean up the connections…
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama on Saturday urged Congress to hold off on any investigation of the Fort Hood rampage until federal law enforcement and military authorities have completed their probes into the shootings at the Texas Army post, which left 13 people dead.
Stupidity squared, give the honey a couple of hours and it will be stupidity cubed in a world wide forum.
Birthees – as always “Thick as a Brick”
This from the Times Online…The Iranian Supreme Leader’s representative in Britain has told Muslim servicemen and women to quit the Armed Forces, saying that their involvement in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars is forbidden by Islam.
mmmm… could it be obamma is answering to a “higher” calling?
At least McCain and Bush wore the uniform. Your boy did not. He may have regestered for the draft maybe. Your fawning over this man is akin to matthews tickle up his leg.
A president does not have to wear a uniform to be a great leader.
In fact, the alternative, someone who wears a uniform is no guarantee of being a great leader, may be similarly relevant. Speaking of Bush for instance… Does anyone remember his ’service’ to this country?
While McCain was shooting missles at our enemies, your boy was shooting staples into phone poles. That is reality.
Your point? What’s better? Firing missiles or actual community support? It’s time we abandon these foolish notions.
I fail to understand why military experience is so overrated.
And tell us about the movies McCain recorded while in captivity?
I’m sorry, I meant while McCain was shooting missles at our enemies, Obama was still justa grinnin’ and sitting in his tricycle. He did not shoot the staples until later. I wanted to be ckear.
Your boy is a true hero…eheheh..
Does anyone remember Dan Akroyd on the old SNLs when he used to say, “Jane, you ignorant slut”? Somehow, I’m reminded of that.
Your point being? Obama may not have experience in war but surely his experience in finding peace may be far more important.
So far finding people willing to wage wars is much simpler than finding those who can create peace.
Did McCain win the Peace Prize?
Our BOY???
Nice comment racist. It portrays the rest of your drivel as racist backbiting. I will have to agree that Sen McCain wore the uniform with honor while Mr. Bush utterly disgraced it.
Yes, Mr Obama did register for the draft. Where is that stipulation that military service is the prequalifier for political office?? Oooops, goofed again there didn’t ya Janie.
If ignorance is bliss than you must be happy out of your mind.
Jorge, you must be “tingled” out of your mind by now…
Not as much as you obviously are, honey.
Well, I guess you people at this site is not the only ones who get the “leg tingle”…
Think you’re obsessed with President Barack Obama and the many challenges he faces at home and abroad?
Well, you’re not alone.
Fidel Castro appears to have a fascination with the American leader that would make Obama Girl jealous, writing obsessively not only about his politics, but of his youth and vigor.
BTW the troops hate him…
Sure PlainJane… Sure… Your dislike of your CIC is duly noted. Nothing you can really do about it now can you?
Sorry to hear that you have nothing much constructive to contribute. But the time for naysayers is over, and time for action has come.
Healthcare reform. About time…
Plainjane the honey stated:
BTW the troops hate him
Yep, the troops have always hated Castro. So what?
About our President:
Sure doesn’t look that way on TV. Finally, someone from the Civilian Chain of Command is paying attention to our returning casualties. The Bush and his boys did their best to deny, ignore, and hide the process.
Since our President received 52% of the popular vote in the last election – there would HAVE to be a SIGNIFICANT
number of military votes. Don’t make shit up about something which is easily debunked/you have no clue about.
You wrap yourself in ignorance like a warm blanket.
What about “your boy” St Ronnie of Raygun? He didn’t even fight in WW II, a war that just about every male of his generation fought in. Does that mean you think he shouldn’t have been President?
Well, technically, Dutch did wear the uniform, for about ten minutes during the induction ceremony. He, and a lot of other entertainment professionals were put into a special unit, located in Los Angeles, to do PR for the military, put on shows for the GIs and/or sell bonds, do instructional movies, etc.
While this did use the talents of some very talented people for the war effort, the major draw for being in this unit was that it was stationed well away from any actual fighting.
BTW, I had a relative who was Jane Wyman’s attorney in the divorce action between her and Ron. According to him, the reason Ron got the divorce was that Nancy had told him she was pregnant and would not have an abortion, and would sue him for paternity unless he divorced Jane and married her. Turned out, Nancy was not pregnaunt. Relative said Nancy never said whether she, in fact, was and miscarried, or had just used the threat of a paternity action to force Ron into marriage.
I’m not crticising Reagan for doing what was asked of him, merely pointing out to Jane that many Presidents of both parties never served in the military. Hell, Lincoln led a war and he never served in the military.
There was no draft and no shooting war involving US troops when Obama turned 18 in 1979, so there was no particular reason for him to have joined the military.
Scientist,
Going into the special Hollywood PR unit was voluntary. Quite a number of movie stars (some much better known at the time Ronald Reagan) turned down offers to stay at home and make training films, and joined regular combat units. Some died, some had their movie careers cut short due to non-fatal injuries, some came back to find second rate actors, like Ron, had eased them out of their prior good relations with the studios.
Plain,
I don’t fawn over Obama or any other politician. However I can and do recognize a good speech when I read one. Obama does give a good speech. This one does everything one would wish such a speech to do: It comforts the listeners. It specifically and positively mentions each of the dead and gives each equality in death. (If the speech had been written by a military officer the dead would have been commemerated in order of rank, this speech talks about them in alphabetacal order.) It notes, in context, and without hyperbole, the specialness of death in a place thought to be secure. It states that part of the greatness of the US, what the military protects, is that the person responsible will be cared for, healed, fairly tried according to law, and, if guilty, punished according to law, and it cautions that the act of one person cannot be used to demean a religion. And, something Bushie would not be able to do, it invokes the almighty in as non-denominational way as possible: “no religion” does this or that.
Aside from the fact that being in the military is somewhat meaningless as a criteria for being president, I have a few thoughts about your citation of McCain and Bush:
1. McCain was a pilot who flew bombing missions over civilian targets in an undeclared war. It is clear that many of the targets were solely civilian, in non-military areas, and were basically undefended. When similar acts have been done by other countries, the US has declared such to be war crimes.
McCain’s post-release behavior does not do him or supposed military values any credit. Although his wife had raised their children by herself, on the relatively small income she received as the wife of an MIA, and, according to all reports, remained faithful to John; when John was released as a “hero” and was taken up by the Republican party, all reports are that he had sex with any woman who indicated willingness (and possibly some who did not). When he found Cindy and started going to functions with her, he was married to and going home (every once in while) to his faithful wife. When he realized Cindy was going to get all that money from her daddy (as daddy was cutting off his children from his prior wife), McCain filed for divorce — while his wife was undergoing treatment for cancer, and had her served in her hospital room. Part of McCain’s defense of these indefensible actions is that he was a drunk then!
By Bush, I assume you mean G.W. Bush the last president.
Let’s examine Georgie’s military record: Oh sorry no one can find it. What do we know: Georgie came of draft age and instead of joining the real military he joins the Texas Air National Guard. Now, everyone knew the Texas Air Guard trained with obsolete aircraft and so there was absolutely no chance that any Texas Air Guard member would ever be sent to where there were real bullets.
Somehow, Georgie, who had never even taken flying lessons, got into the Air Guard as a pilot, when there were several hundred qualified, trained, and some commercially aircraft qualified, pilots ahead of him on the list. (I’m sure this had nothing to do with the fact that Georgie’s daddy just happened to be a Senator from Texas.)
Now, Georgie shows up, once in awhile, for training. The records show that he completely missed at least one physical and so was precluded from flying. (I’m told that for most people in the Air Guard this would mean dismissal from the Guard and resumption of eligibility for the draft; on the basis that the Guard did not need pilot slots being occupied by people who could not pilot.) Georgie, however, gets a pass on this. Later, Georgie decides to take time off to help someone campaign for elected office, and misses hundreds of hours of required drills, meetings, etc. Georgie gets a pat on the head and is told he can make up the hours by coming on base and reading flight manuals! For airplanes he can not legally fly as he has not made up the physical, and for aircraft that the guard no longer was using. But, there are no records that he even completed this make-work assignment.
The moral effect his “wearing the uniform” might have had appears to be lacking: Two convictions for drunk driving. Shady financial dealings. Probably obtaining an abortion for his college girlfriend. And, almost forgot: deliberately getting the US into a war by lying to the public about WMDs he knew did not exist.
The President of the US during WWII was FDR – never served. WWI? Woodrow Wilson – never served. Civil War (WoNA) was Lincoln – never served. In some of the most intensive conflicts the US had a President who never served.
Doesn’t make much of a difference does it.
Yeah, I know Nixon did serve.
Until he was pardoned that is :-)
World War II
Lieutenant Commander Richard Nixon of the United States Navy, 1945
Nixon was eligible for an exemption from military service, both as a Quaker and through his job working for the OPA, but he did not seek one and was commissioned into the United States Navy in August 1942.[10] He was trained at Naval Air Station Quonset Point, Rhode Island and was assigned to Ottumwa Naval Air Station, Iowa, for seven months. He was subsequently reassigned as the naval passenger control officer for the South Pacific Combat Air Transport Command, supporting the logistics of operations in the South West Pacific theater.[20][21] After requesting more challenging duties, he was given command of cargo handling units.[22] Nixon returned to the United States with two service stars (although he saw no actual combat) and a citation of commendation, and became the administrative officer of the Alameda Naval Air Station.[23] In January, 1945, he was transferred to Philadelphia’s Bureau of Aeronautics office to help negotiate the termination of war contracts. There he received another letter of commendation, this time from Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal. In October 1945, he was promoted to lieutenant commander.[23] He resigned his commission on New Year’s Day 1946.[24]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Nixon
It may be wiki, but it is accurate.
Excellent, people doing the research… You guys and galls are making me proud…
Well Silly Me…Lincoln did serve. He was elected captain of his local company during a set of Indian wars in Illinois. Haven’t found out if there was any combat service. Looking for that reference…
Brazenly copied from:
http://www.il.ngb.army.mil/museum/HistPeople/Lincoln.htm
The most distinguished alumnus of the Black Hawk War, Captain Abraham Lincoln, is remembered not because of his campaigning, but in spite of it. A reasonably honest man, Lincoln in later years never denied that he had served in the war; but, when he alluded to his campaign at all, he mentioned the slaughter of mosquitoes, not Indians. Yet he had volunteered eagerly. Only hindsight permits us to see that his pursuit of Black Hawk proved to be but the first leg of a public career that eventually ended in the White House.
After seeing the picture of your boy bowing to the Jap emperor, that says it all. He is a mindless twit…obama that is. I think he would bow down to osama bin laden and KISS his hand if he could find him.
Obama is just a tool of the muslims.
Wow, I didn’t know that Emperor Akihito was a Muslim.
As for bin Laden, wasn’t his family very close to the Bush family before their falling out?
Plain,
Might it occur to you that the US custom of not bowing to foreign heads of state is annoying to the the people in those countries? People we would like not to irritate.
It has been the custom for hundreds of years that when presented to a head of state, especially a heiriditary head of state, that one bows to show respect to the country as represented by its head of state. This custom is followed by every country in the world, except the USA, to this day.
A bow to the head of state by one on a diplomatic mission is a symbolic acknowledgment that the person on the mission is on the soil of the head of state by the head of state’s permission and not as an invader. Among other things this acknowlegement of permission requires the head of state to extend diplomatic immunity to the one on the mission. There is a quid pro quo: I acknowledge you are the soverign of this land, you acknowledge that I retain full alliegence to my soverign and none to you.
[If you have read any of the posts here from the old cases on citizenship, you may have noted how much emphasis there is on alliegence to ruler of the soil one is on, even by resident aliens -- and that there is always an exception for diplomates, who do not acquire alliegence to the ruler of the place they are sent to, but retain full alliegence to their own country.]
Diplomacy is full of symbolic acts and highly structured rules of protocol. By the time one becomes a senior diplomate (or is been one for life, like the Emperor), any failure to follow the rules is, at a minimum, jarring, and can sour negotiations.
Some time ago, well after the US had started diplomatic relations with other countires, some twit in the US decided that any courtesy like bowing to a head of state was somehow in violation of the “all men are created equal” bit, and US diplomates stopped doing this. Really, really stupid, not followed by any other country (many of which are also “all are equal” democracies), and considered by everyone else in the world to be insufferably arrogant on the part of the US.
As far as I know this arrogant refusal to follow general custom is not codified in US law, and as the head of state and head of government, Obama may, if he feels it best for US diplomatic relations, to get rid of a custom that serves no purpose, but does irritate everyone else.
To acknowledge that one is on another’s property with that person’s permission, is not to say that the other is better, any more than a captain saluting an admiral says the admiral is better.
It is not only in accord with diplomatic protocol for the president to bow when presented to the emperor, it is good for the US relations with Japan. The emperor has almost no role in the government, but is highly esteemed as a symbol of Japan, and represents the history of Japan, as his family has ruled longer than the US has been a country. Show respect to the emperor, you show respect to the country, everyone in Japan feels better towards the US. The US may need that good-will sometime in the future.
Don’t show respect, the Japanese feel the US is still being arrogant and we lose good-will we may need in the future.
Plainly, I challenge you: Provide a rational reason why the US should continue a custom that violates norms of international relations, irritates those that we would like not to irritate, and appears to serve absolutely no domestic function.
Oooohh, Can I hate President Obama cause of his heritage too???
So did Timothy McVeigh; in fact, he was decorated.
Clearly, service is not an automatic indication of character.
Are we speaking of the same Sen McCain who make propaganda broadcasts for the North admitting to being a war criminal while committing war crimes???
Obama’s unannounced visit to the gravesites at Arlington / Scetion 60 yesterday was, to me, really moving. It can’t be easy for him to attend the Fort Hood memorial, the arrival of the dead at Dover, and then visiting the resting place of the recently fallen.
Check out this article in the NY Daily News. It had me in tears.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2009/11/12/2009-11-12_my_solemn_surprise_meeting_with_the_president_at_my_friends_resting_place.html?print=1&page=all
It is so refreshing to have a president that is articulate, warm, and deeply, deeply cares for all the people and the ideals of this country.
Yeah. Too bad that such a person is perceived as threatening to some “conservatives”. Ignorance is still embraced since reason, knowledge and an informed middle class are their worst nightmare.
Ignorance is Bliss must be the Happy Birther slogan.