WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama will attend a memorial service Tuesday honoring victims of the Ford Hood shootings, an attack he described as "all the more heartbreaking and all the more despicable" because it occurred on the nation's largest Army post.
He praised those who ended the shootings, which killed 13 and wounded 30 others, and lauded the armed services' diversity — a move designed to calm tensions about the suspected shooter, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan.
"They are Americans of every race, faith and station. They are Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus and nonbelievers," Obama said in his radio and Internet address Saturday, airing the weekend before Veterans Day.
"They are descendants of immigrants and immigrants themselves. They reflect the diversity that makes this America. But what they share is a patriotism like no other."
After the address aired, Obama talked about the Fort Hood shootings with Democratic House members. On Capitol Hill for a private meeting on health care, Obama opened his remarks by speaking about Fort Hood, participants said.
He told lawmakers that the hardships members of the military make for the country "is what sacrifice really is," according to Rep. Robert Andrews, D-N.J., as opposed to "casting a vote that might lose an election for you."
The president asked for patience while officials piece together what happened Thursday in Texas.
"We cannot fully know what leads a man to do such a thing," Obama said in his address. "But what we do know is that our thoughts are with every 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."
But Obama said while "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," Obama said.
"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."
The White House had said Obama would attend a service, but awaited the families' decision about the schedule. White House officials insisted they would not dictate a date.
Obama was scheduled to arrive in Asia on Thursday, but a source familiar with Obama's planning said Saturday that Obama would arrive in Tokyo — his first stop on the schedule — a day later than expected. The source spoke on the condition of anonymity because the White House plans to release a revised schedule in the coming days to reflect Obama's plans to travel to Texas.
Obama on Friday ordered the flags at the White House and other federal buildings to be at half-staff until Veterans Day, on Wednesday.
"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," Obama said during his address, recorded Friday and released early Saturday.
"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."
Breaking News
Obama to attend Fort Hood memorial service
- Breaking News
-
-
German man wins Empire State Building race again
A German runner has won an annual race up 86 flights of stairs at the Empire State Building for a record seventh straight time.
-
Santorum files for Indiana ballot despite dispute
Republican presidential contender Rick Santorum filed Wednesday to get on Indiana's primary ballot even though he has not been certified by local election officials.
-
Sarkozy advises against military strike on Iran
French President Nicolas Sarkozy put his reputation as a stalwart friend of Israel on the line Wednesday, warning that military action was no way to deal with nuclear-minded Iran at a dinner hosted by France's main Jewish group.
-
GOP vows to reverse Obama birth control policy
Republicans vowed Wednesday to reverse President Barack Obama's new policy on birth control, lambasting the rule that religious schools and hospitals must provide contraceptive coverage for their employees as an "unambiguous attack on religious freedom in our country."
-
Sheriff unhappy with dispatcher in Powell case
A 911 recording reveals a social worker's urgent attempts over more than six minutes to get a dispatcher to send deputies after Josh Powell locked himself and his two sons in his home.
-
University of North Dakota will use Fighting Sioux nickname
The University of North Dakota will resume using its contentious Fighting Sioux nickname despite threats from the NCAA, the school's president said Wednesday, marking the latest twist in a protracted fight about a name that critics consider offensive.
-
Boehner: Congress to overturn birth control policy
House Speaker John Boehner says if President Barack Obama doesn't reverse a new policy requiring religious schools and hospitals to provide employees with access to free birth control, the Congress will.
-
Fair, Stagehand union, stage company cited in fair stage collapse
Poor planning and an indifference to safety requirements led to the death of two workers during the collapse at the Indiana State Fair on Aug. 13. the Indiana Department of Labor said on Wednesday.
-
Russian scientists reach lake under Antarctica
After more than two decades of drilling in Antarctica, Russian scientists have reached the surface of a gigantic freshwater lake hidden under miles of ice for some 20 million years — a lake that may hold life from the distant past and clues to the search for life on other planets.
-
Overnight snow creates a few problems
An overnight dusting of snow forced police to close the Eisenhower Bridge on east Eighth Street Wednesday morning because of icing, but the bridge is now open.
- More Breaking News Headlines
-
German man wins Empire State Building race again







