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| President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama arrive for a memorial ceremony, Wednesday, April 9, 2014, at Fort Hood Texas, for those killed there in a shooting last week. President Barack Obama is reprising his role as chief comforter as he returns once again to a grief-stricken corner of America to mourn with the families of those killed last week at Fort Hood and offer solace to the nation. |
FORT HOOD, Texas
(AP) -- President Barack Obama returned to the grieving Army post
Wednesday where he first took on the job as the nation's comforter five
years ago, mourning with families and uniformed comrades of those killed
during last week's Fort Hood shooting spree. "We somehow bear what
seems unbearable," he declared.
It was yet
another sad observance for a president who has had to deliver words of
consolation across the country many times. At Fort Hood, the ceremony
was made more poignant as a remembrance for soldiers who didn't die in
wars abroad but in the safety of their own compound.
"They
were members of a generation that has borne the burden of our security
for more than a decade of war," Obama said on a breezy, sun washed day
in central Texas.
Three soldiers died and 16 others were wounded in the rampage last Wednesday by another soldier, who killed himself.
Obama
and first lady Michelle Obama arrived late Wednesday morning at Fort
Hood, where the camouflage fatigues of troops standing to salute his
passing motorcade almost blended in with a patch of desert-like terrain.
Flags were lowered to half-staff at the sprawling Army post, where
Obama met with victims' relatives before offering his public
condolences.
The memorial took place at the same spot where Obama eulogized victims of another mass shooting in 2009.
Three
battle crosses, helmet-topped rifles above combat boots, stood in front
of the speakers' platform, representing the three soldiers shot and
killed - Sgt. Carlos Lazaney-Rodriguez, Sgt. Timothy Owens, Sgt. 1st
Class Daniel Ferguson.
Officials say they died
following a shooting rampage by Army Spc. Ivan Lopez, who took his own
life. Four of those shot remain in hospitals, officials said.
Obama
praised Ferguson for keeping the gunman from pushing into a room where
others could have been killed. "Danny held the door shut, saving the
lives of others while sacrificing his own," he said. Owens was known for
counseling fellow soldiers, the president said, and "gave his life
walking toward the gunman, trying to calm him down."
Obama
was the only speaker to mention that four soldiers were lost, including
Lopez. As the president finished an address in which he repeated the
phrase "love never ends," one soldier in the audience brushed away
tears. The president exited the stage with his head down.
Fort
Hood is a major post from which troops have been deployed to Iraq and
Afghanistan. As Obama has wound down the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan,
bringing troops back from the warzone, it seemed all the more jarring to
have their sense of safety upended at their home base.
"It
hurts. It hurts in the middle of the night. It hurts in the middle of
the day. It hurts in the middle of your stomach. It hurts to lose
someone you love," Chaplain Col. Goff said, following the president's
address. "The reason it hurts so much is because we love so much."
Toward
the end of the ceremony, soldiers stood for a roll call. The fallen
soldiers' names were bellowed out by a sergeant three times. After no
answer, in accordance with military tradition, their names were stricken
from the roll. A line of seven soldiers pointed their rifles to the sky
and shot three times. A solemn trumpeter played taps.
Time
and again, Obama has been called on find ways to give meaning to
senseless death. Tucson, Ariz. Aurora, Colo., Newtown, Conn., Boston,
the Washington Navy Yard - communities now synonymous with tragedy. And
now Fort Hood - for a second improbable time.
Adding
complexity to the president's response were questions about whether
Lopez's wartime service precipitated his actions. Although Lopez did a
short stint in Iraq in 2011 and said he suffered a traumatic brain
injury, Fort Hood officials have said his mental condition was not a
"direct participating factor" in the shooting. Still, the 34-year-old
was undergoing treatment for depression and anxiety while being
evaluated for post-traumatic stress disorder, base officials said.
"We
must honor these men by doing more to care for our fellow Americans
living with mental illness, civilian and military," Obama said. "Today
four American soldiers are gone. Four Army families are devastated. As
commander in chief, I'm determined that we will continue to step up our
efforts to reach our troops and veterans who are hurting, to deliver to
them the care that they need and to make sure we never stigmatize those
who have the courage to seek help."
For Obama,
who tried unsuccessfully to turn the school tragedy of Newtown into a
call for new gun controls, the Fort Hood shooting was less about
pledging new policies than it was to simply do more with the tools in
hand.
"In our open society, in advanced bases
like this, we can never eliminate every risk, but as a nation, we can do
more to help counsel those with mental health issues, to keep firearms
out of the hands of those who are having such deep difficulties," he
said. "As a military, we must continue to do everything in our power to
secure our facilities and spare others this pain."
In
attendance were members of the Texas congressional delegation,
including Republican Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz. House Minority
Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., also attended. The military brass
included Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,
Army Secretary John McHugh, and Gen. Ray Odierno, the Army's top
commander.
To be sure, Obama is not the first
president called on to help Americans in their grief. Ronald Reagan had
the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger, Bill Clinton had Oklahoma
City and George W. Bush had 9/11, to say nothing of the wars that
American troops have fought overseas.
Those
close to Obama say he sees his role after a tragedy as fulfilling a
ministerial function for the nation. Valerie Jarrett, Obama's senior
adviser and longtime friend, said although it's painful for Obama, he
understands the importance for the president to show leadership, empathy
and strength in times of crisis, and for him to spend time with each
family member affected.
"It's hard because
it's deeply personal for him," Jarrett said in an interview. "He
identifies as a father, as a husband, as a son, as a family member."
