 SUBSCRIBE

 SEARCH

 MENU

The Best Speech Obama's Given Since...Maybe Ever





POLITICS
The Best Speech Obama's Given
Since...Maybe Ever



  

 MARC AMBINDER

  NOV 10, 2009

Today, at Ft. Hood. I guarantee: they'll be teaching this one in rhetoric classes.
It was that good. My gloss won't do it justice. Yes, I'm having a Chris
Matthews-chill-running-up-my-leg moment, but sometimes, the man, the
moment and the words come together and meet the challenge. Obama had to
lead a nation's grieving; he had to try and address the thorny issues of Islam
and terrorism; to be firm; to express the spirit of America, using familiar,
comforting tropes in a way that didn't sound trite.   An excerpt from the
elegiac address, below, and the full text, after the jump.

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. And 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 are 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 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 are 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.

Remarks of President Barack Obama - As Prepared for Delivery

Memorial Service at Fort Hood

November 10, 2009

We come together filled with sorrow for the thirteen 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. And 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 American community.
It is this fact that makes the tragedy even more painful and even more
incomprehensible.

For those families who have lost a loved one, no words can fill the void that has 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 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 that we were founded upon - could exist without
men and women like these thirteen 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 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 is 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 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 re-
enlisted 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 great 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, the 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 mother 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 and the decency of those who serve, and that is how they will be
remembered.

That same spirit is embodied in the community here at Fort Hood, and in the many
wounded who are still recovering. 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 pick-up truck.

One young soldier, Amber Bahr, was so intent on helping others that 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. And 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 are 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 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 are 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 are 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 is who we are
as a people.

Tomorrow is Veterans Day. It is a chance to pause, and to pay tribute - for students to
learn of 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, I think all of us - every
single American - must acknowledge that this generation has more than proved itself
the equal of those who have 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 a 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 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 is 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 their
impact is no less great - in a world of threats that no know borders, it will be marked in
the safety of our cities and towns, and the security and opportunity that is extended
abroad. And it will serve as testimony to the character of those who serve, and the
example that you set for America and for the world.

Here, at Fort Hood, we pay tribute to thirteen 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 of this generation that they believed under the most trying of
tests; that they persevered not just when it was easy, but when it was hard; and 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 we lost. And
may God bless the United States of America. 

 JUMP TO COMMENTS

 ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Most Popular


 What If Everybody Didn't Have to Work to Get Paid?


Game of Thrones: A Pointless Horror and a Ridiculous Fight


What ISIS Really Wants


A Brief Visual History of Weapons


The Skyscraper of the Future


Sentenced to Death in Egypt


How the DEA Harasses Amtrak Passengers


The Mystery of Columba Bush


The Cruel and Unusual Execution of Clayton Lockett
 
The Economy Is Still Terrible for Young People


A Rational Defense of Sleeping Alone


The Pimps and Prostitutes of 1970s Times Square

Subscribe
Get 10 issues a year and save 65% off the cover price.

                                                                                                                                             
State

United Stat Order Now

Fraud Alert regarding The Atlantic

Newsletters
 The Atlantic

  The Atlantic Daily

  This Week
   This Month

  New Photo Galleries

  Top Videos This Week

 CityLab

  Today’s Top Stories

  This Week's Most Popular Stories

  I want to receive updates from partners and sponsors.

Sign up

Follow
 Facebook

 Twitter

 LinkedIn

 Tumblr

 Pinterest

 RSS
  App Store

About
 Masthead

 FAQ

 Press

 Jobs

 Shop

 Books

 Emporium

 Contact Us

 Privacy Policy

 Advertise

 Advertising Guidelines

 Terms and Conditions

 Site Map

Copyright © 2015 by The Atlantic Monthly Group. All Rights Reserved. CDN powered by

Edgecast Networks.

Insights powered by Parsely