by Mark Silva
President Barack Obama, who has ordered feeral flags lowered to half-staff until Veterams Day for the soldiers killed and wounded in an Army psychiatrist's rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, honors the fallen, their families and their comrades today in a weekly address that also honors the service of all military men and woman present and past.
"It was in this place,'' Obama says of Fort Hood today ,"on a base where our soldiers ought to feel most safe, where those brave Americans who are preparing to risk their lives in defense of our nation, lost their lives in a crime against our nation....
"e cannot fully know what leads a man to do such a thing. But what we do know is that our thoughts are with every single one of the men and women who were injured at Fort Hood. Our thoughts are with all the families who've lost a loved one in this national tragedy. And our thoughts are with all the Americans who wear - or who've worn - the proud uniform of the United States of America; our soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and coast guardsmen, and the military families who love and support them...
"They are Americans of every race, faith, and station. They are Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus and nonbelievers. They are descendents of immigrants and immigrants themselves. They reflect the diversity that makes this America. But what they share is a patriotism like no other. What they share is a commitment to country that has been tested and proved worthy. What they share is the same unflinching courage, unblinking compassion, and uncommon camaraderie that the soldiers and civilians of Fort. Hood showed America and showed the world.''
See the address above and read it below.
This is the text of the president's weekly address:
"I'd like to speak with you for a few minutes today about the tragedy that took place at Ft. Hood. This past Thursday, on a clear Texas afternoon, an Army psychiatrist walked into the Soldier Readiness Processing Center, and began shooting his fellow soldiers.
It is an act of violence that would have been heartbreaking had it occurred anyplace in America. It is a crime that would have horrified us had its victims been Americans of any background. But it's all the more heartbreaking and all the more despicable because of the place where it occurred and the patriots who were its victims.
The SRP is where our men and women in uniform go before getting deployed. It's where they get their teeth checked and their medical records updated and make sure everything is in order before getting shipped out. It was in this place, on a base where our soldiers ought to feel most safe, where those brave Americans who are preparing to risk their lives in defense of our nation, lost their lives in a crime against our nation.
Soldiers stationed in Iraq, Afghanistan, and around the world called and emailed loved ones at Ft. Hood, all expressing the same stunned reaction: I'm supposed to be the one in harm's way, not you.
Thursday's shooting was one of the most devastating ever committed on an American military base. And yet, even as we saw the worst of human nature on full display, we also saw the best of America. We saw soldiers and civilians alike rushing to aid fallen comrades; tearing off bullet-riddled clothes to treat the injured; using blouses as tourniquets; taking down the shooter even as they bore wounds themselves.
We saw soldiers bringing to bear on our own soil the skills they had been trained to use abroad; skills that been honed through years of determined effort for one purpose and one purpose only: to protect and defend the United States of America.
We saw the valor, selflessness, and unity of purpose that make our servicemen and women the finest fighting force on Earth; that make the United States military the best the world has ever known; and that make all of us proud to be Americans.
On Friday, I met with FBI Director Mueller, Defense Secretary Gates, and representatives of the relevant agencies to discuss their ongoing investigation into what led to this terrible crime. And I'll continue to be in close contact with them as new information comes in.
We cannot fully know what leads a man to do such a thing. But what we do know is that our thoughts are with every single one of the men and women who were injured at Ft. Hood. Our thoughts are with all the families who've lost a loved one in this national tragedy. And our thoughts are with all the Americans who wear - or who've worn - the proud uniform of the United States of America; our soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and coast guardsmen, and the military families who love and support them.
In tribute to those who fell at Ft. Hood, I've ordered flags flying over the White House, and other federal buildings to be lowered to half-staff from now until Veterans Day next Wednesday. Veterans Day is our chance to honor those Americans who've served on battlefields from Lexington to Antietam, Normandy to Manila, Inchon to Khe Sanh, Ramadi to Kandahar.
They are Americans of every race, faith, and station. They are Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus and nonbelievers. They are descendents of immigrants and immigrants themselves. They reflect the diversity that makes this America. But what they share is a patriotism like no other. What they share is a commitment to country that has been tested and proved worthy. What they share is the same unflinching courage, unblinking compassion, and uncommon camaraderie that the soldiers and civilians of Ft. Hood showed America and showed the world.
These are the men and women we honor today. These are the men and women we'll honor on Veterans Day. And these are the men and women we shall honor every day, in times of war and times of peace, so long as our nation endures.
Comments
Too bad he couldn't show much class in his initial comments the other day when he joked around, called out folks in attendance and made it a campaign-style rally.The guy is a Class A Narcissistic Moron.
Posted by: John D, still right, as usual | November 7, 2009 10:54 AM
Welcome to the dumbed down PC world of the leftie libs.
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This was a terrorist attack. Plain and simple. And all the LameStream Media oozing on and on about the poor "victim". Victim my @ss. Islamic Terrorist plain and simple.
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A columnist with some testicular fortitude not found in the MSM writes this:
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http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/fort_hood_xjP9yGrJN7gl7zdsJ31vnJ
Posted by: Bobby Mobbie | November 7, 2009 12:59 PM
Bobby Mobbie, just yesterday I submitted an item that responded to Obama saying we should not jump to conclusions. I had commented on what we now know: this guy was an Islamic whack job. He wanted to murder Americans. He killed these people while shouting out praises for Allah. Just like the terrorists did when they knocked the Twin Towers down. He let it be known he thought the suicide bombers were heroes and that he idolized them. He said the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were wars against Islam, not terrorists. We know this from coworkers, friends and those on the scene at the murders the other day. And you know what? It was censored by the Trib PC police. Apparently, the Trib, like the rest of the media, is afraid of the truth. It doesn't want the American people to know that Islamic kooks want to kill Americans. Not all Islamic followers are this way, to be sure. Many are good, decent, hard-working people. But since the Obimbo shaministration is now playing down the war on terror (it doesn't even call it that anymore) and doesn't even call events such as this terrorist acts, but rather "man-made events," the idiots in the media follow along like they do everything else from this shaministration.
Posted by: John D, still right, as usual | November 7, 2009 2:48 PM
Columnists are apparently beyond reproach. If that was the case, then we should have columnists solve crimes, capture bad guys, and try them. Piecing together the facts available surrounding the case, it is inevitable this was Islamic terrorism, and anything less is a conspiracy conspired by law enforcement officials and government officials lacking gonads who spend endless hours working in the filed, because a guy who writes for a living said so.
Posted by: yeah right | November 7, 2009 4:28 PM
How about honoring the soldiers that are being shot at that are being killed and maimed while waiting for this poor excuse of a President will not send reinforcements that his main General has requested.I'm wondering how many have been killed and maimed in the last 9 weeks that they've been waiting for this guy to act. All our previous war heroes must be rolling over in their graves. Either act affirmatively or get out of office.
Posted by: Paul | November 7, 2009 4:48 PM
I don't know how the law codifies terrorism , and I don't know all the facts or the facts that can be determined to be pertinent to the case. I do know that the possibility remains the man is not an Islamic terrorist. Everything the columnist is interpreting is interpreted in hind sight. String all that together and he never committees the actual act of violence, he's a perfectly acceptable, yes, unruly disgruntled individual. "Plot" is the problem in the column. Was this a plot, or a reaction to a negative accumulating set of circumstance, being asked to serve, that drew an already dense men to act upon his beliefs. By dense, I mean no mater what your opinions and job stress or being picked on, YOU are the professional! Such a surreal freak show, I think the people involved are withholding on the situation because something is making them hold back surrounding the circumstances, and not a genuine need to hoodwink the people ala WMD and Iraq. In time , we will know. Since there are not enough crosses out there already, let's be in a rush to build another. Here's what I'm ticked off about-- how does a guy like him get by. What type of environment is Virginia Tech , the state of Virgina, and/or the military nurturing? Why is it that minor and major psychological issues, ranging from psycho, to major depression, to minor depression, to PTS, to handling work/life related stress becoming the major factor in these *massacres* ? (People who act out don't always plan to become a terrorist; sometimes, it's a cry for help.) Why is this problem going unnoticed, and what makes the people think more drugs are the answer? Lastly, RIP.
Posted by: RIP | November 7, 2009 5:37 PM