Obama recalls what Fort Hood victims left behind

FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) — Stepping for the first time into the role of national consoler, President Barack Obama is honoring the 13 people slain in a shooting rampage by remembering what they left behind, offering personal stories about the lives they touched and the service they provided to their country.

The president and first lady Michelle Obama began an afternoon of consolation by meeting privately with family members of those killed last week on this enormous Army post. The Obamas also were meeting with those wounded in the attack and released from the hospital, along with their families, before the president was to speak at an outdoor memorial service.

Thousands upon thousands of people, many of them soldiers dressed in their camouflage uniforms, gathered to pay respects and hear the president. The shooting killed 12 soldiers and 1 civilian, injured 29 others and left a nation stunned and searching for answers.

On a steamy Texas day, the crowd kept growing until the service began. Below the stage was a somber tribute to the fallen — 13 pairs of combat boots, each with an inverted rifle topped with a helmet. A picture of each person rested below the boots.

The president hoped to convey the idea that for those killed, “their memory lasts in the service and the dedication of the Armed Forces and by the people that they touched, both in the military and outside,” said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs.

Later, the president and first lady planned to go to a military hospital to meet with those still recovering from injuries incurred during the attack.

The site of the ceremony is a field at the headquarters of the massive post, cordoned off with walls of steel shipping containers. Fort Hood is larger than many small towns, with about 53,000 troops, and it has substantial ties to the surrounding community.

Sheila Wormuth, whose husband is stationed at Fort Hood, brought her 3-year-old daughter to the memorial service to show their support. While her husband wasn’t at the shooting site, she said, “what happens to my husband’s brothers and sisters happens to us.”

Bonita Childs, 46, drove about 30 miles to attend the ceremony, even though she had no connections to Fort Hood.

“I wanted to be a part of it,” she said. “Our soldiers give so freely of themselves for the freedom we enjoy, and I thought coming here today and showing my gratitude was the least I could do.”

This is Obama’s time to take on the healer role that can help shape a presidency at a time of national tragedy.

Obama’s predecessor, George W. Bush, governed during the worst terrorist attack on American soil, the most crippling natural disaster in U.S. history, a space shuttle explosion, a shooting rampage at Virginia Tech, a tornado that wiped away a Kansas town, a bridge collapse in Minnesota, Midwestern flooding and California wildfires. Each response affected his standing, for better or worse, in a country that expects its president to be empathetic and clearly in charge.

History is full of other examples. Bill Clinton helped rebuild his troubled presidency with the way he reacted to the Oklahoma City bombings.

In this case, Obama has sought his own balance.

He has promised a full investigation of the Fort Hood shootings but has said little about it as police search for a motive. He has praised religious diversity in the military, trying to offer calm as questions loom about whether the alleged shooter had ties to extremist Islamic ideology. And he has delayed a trip to Asia to attend the memorial service.

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