Obama visits Dover AFB to honor fallen soldiers
The Dover base, about 100 miles from the White House, is the entry point for service personnel killed overseas.
Obama’s predecessor, President George W. Bush, visited the families of hundreds of fallen soldiers but did not attend any military funerals or go to Dover to receive the coffins. In a 2006 interview with the military newspaper "Stars and Stripes," Bush said he felt the appropriate way to show his respect was to meet with family members in private.
Obama is in the midst of an intense, weekslong review of his war strategy in Afghanistan. He has upped the U.S. commitment there to 68,000 troops and is considering sending a large addition next year, but fewer than the 40,000 troops requested by his commander there, U.S. officials tell The Associated Press.
Please go to the website where I read the entire AP article so you can read the entire article, due to copyright issues I will no longer post entire AP articles but three paragraphs is supposed to be legal as it is only being used to pique your interest to make you desire to read the entire piece.
From the Daily Beast there is this
Obama Visits War Dead
Susan Walsh / AP PhotoIn an unannounced midnight trip, President Obama visited Dover Air Force base in Delaware on Wednesday to meet a plane returning with war dead from Afghanistan. The 18 soldiers and Drug Enforcement Administration agents in the coffins on board were killed this week. October was the deadliest month for American forces since the war began in 2001 and Obama is weighing whether to deploy as many as 40,000 more troops requested by General Stanley McChrystal in an effort to turn back Taliban gains. According to the Washington Post, the president is looking at province-by-province intelligence assessments of the the country in order to determine a viable plan.
Read it at Associated Press
Posted at 5:50 AM, Oct 29, 2009
I am glad we now have a President that will take the time to go see what has been wrought in our names and what is at the core of the title of Commander in Chief of the military, this is the ultimate price anyone can pay for their nation, and he took the time to pay them and their family the respect they have earned.
I know he can't spend all of his time attending the dignified transfers every day, but he had to do it at least once, to feel what it is like, it is a solemn process and you have to think about the reasons for sending the troops into harms way, I hope it helps guide his decisions for the future escalations or de-escalations during the rest of his Presidency, as a veteran I am proud of this President and the compassion he shows and the questions and depth he goes to ask the hard questions, rather than just accept the "Generals" wants as gospel. Generals always want more, it's up to our elected officials to decide the merits of giving them more or changing the mission.Sphere: Related Content
