Originally Posted By Mr X This just got me...I can't say why exactly, but I just feel as though this is what they're SUPPOSED to be like. <a href="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" target="_blank">http://www.nydailynews.com/new...page=all</a> ***The President and First Lady Michelle Obama emerged from their armored limousine hatless in the frigid downpour and took a slow stroll into the soggy rows of white marble headstones. They stopped first at the grave of Medal of Honor recipient Ross McGinnis, an Army private who threw himself on a grenade in Iraq three years ago to save four buddies. A sad-faced woman reached for Obama's hand and pointed him to a nearby plot. The face of another woman - who had grimly sat in a folding chair for hours next to a headstone she'd arranged flowers around - suddenly broadened into a smile as she stood to embrace Obama and thank him for paying his respects. She was so overcome with emotion that a soldier from the Army's Old Guard had to console her afterward. The President patted backs of adozen other Gold Star relativesand troops visiting buddiesnow in the ground. He gave hugs. He shook wet, chilly hands. He wanted to know something about each fallen warrior. He began to slowly trudge back toward the motorcade - and to another White House huddle with his war council, which is advising him whether to send up to 40,000 additional troops into harm's way in Afghanistan. And then Obama noticed a tall, bearded figure. He probably didn't see the mud-caked combat boots I trudged around Afghanistan in a few years ago. "What's your name?" a somber President asked as he extended his hand. "James Meek, sir," I replied, struggling to pull off my wool glove and pull my hood back from my head. "I'm here visiting a friend, Pfc. David H. Sharrett II, who was killed in Iraq last year." He asked how I knew Dave. I explained that his father, also named David, was my high school English teacher in nearby McLean, Va. My classmates and I knew Dave as a little boy playing at our feet. "He became a star football player and was one of the toughest soldiers in the 101st Airborne Division," I told Obama.***
Originally Posted By wahooskipper I am hopeful that this type of stuff happens more frequently than we hear of. I know George and Laura Bush visted Fort Hood the day after the attack there with little fanfare. I know Clinton and Bush I make quiet, supportive trips as has Carter. I applaud this powerful show of the President...even when it isn't about "show".
Originally Posted By Princessjenn5795 ^^ I completely agree. No matter what you think of a president's policies, things like that say a lot about them as people and always earn my respect.
