Biden Lays Wreath At Arlington National Cemetery 2010

Obama honors soldiers at the Lincoln National Cemetery.
Biden's remarks:

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Marines Memorial Day in Afghanistan:

Obama's Memorial Day Speech 2010

Change of plans. Obama speaks at Andrews Air Force Base:

Obama announces delay because of lightning. Ultimately, the event was canceled. Obama, instead, met with families on the buses. Obama's stopping at the Fisher House to visit with families of wounded soldiers. WestWingReport on Twitter has a preview of what Obama was going to say. I'll post the speech transcript when it's up.

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Well, folks, thunder and pouring rain killed live coverage.

It's 12:30 pm eastern and POTUS has arrived. Live streaming of the ceremony here.

Obama participates in a wreath laying ceremony at 12 pm eastern time. He will speak at the Lincoln National Cemetery at 12:45 pm eastern. This is a live audio stream of Obama's speech. You can catch a live video stream at cbsnews.com. Joe Biden will participate in a wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery. The Obamas head back to D.C. around 5 pm.

Obama Speaks at Lincoln National Cemetery on Memorial Day

Listen people, I'm talking to you, the ones who believe Glenn Beck or some other erroneous blogger that says the president of the U.S., our POTUS, is going to blow off Memorial Day (the rest of you read the bottom half of the blog).

Think about that.

You done?

Obama is the Commander in Chief. He cares about the troops. He's shown nothing but respect and admiration for the troops. His administration has been revamping the Veterans Administration, under Eric Shinseki. Michelle Obama has made military families a priority. Just search this blog for "michelle Obama."

Don't fall prey to other people's agendas. Don't be manipulated. Stop wasting your time chasing nonsense. It makes our society worse. Let's elevate the conversation, shall we?

It's frustrating because I see one Obama conspiracy a week. It's maddening.

Obama will speak at the Lincoln National Cemetery on Memorial Day at 12:45 pm eastern. Live stream at CBSNEWS. Live audio stream. It's not a second rate cemetery. It is a place where veterans are buried. It has a rich history, given its namesake.

The Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery lies in the northwestern area of the former Joliet Army Ammunition Plant, approximately 50 miles south of Chicago. Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery is named after the 16th President of the United States and founder of the National Cemeteries. In the midst of the Civil War, on July 17, 1862 President Lincoln's signature enacted the law authorizing the establishment of national cemeteries "... for the soldiers who die in the service of the country." During the Civil War there were 14 national cemeteries opened pursuant of this legislation. President Lincoln's legacy is especially important to the people of Illinois, where he worked and lived. Lincoln is remembered for his successful law practice and elected service as a resident of Illinois. He served as an Illinois State Assemblyman and an Illinois Representative during the 13th Congress, prior to his election as 16th President of the United States. He is buried in the Oak Ridge Cemetery near the State Capital in Springfield, Illinois, where many additional sites of historical interest are located. NLC

Obama In Chicago for Weekend Memorial Day Ceremony

Update May 25: Obama will leave Friday for the Gulf:

On Friday morning, May 28, President Barack Obama will travel from Chicago to the Louisiana Gulf Coast to assess the latest efforts to counter the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The administration has mobilized one of the largest responses to a catastrophic event in history, with more than 1,200 vessels in the region and more than 22,000 people, including many of the brightest scientific minds from both the public and private sector, working around the clock to mitigate the oil’s impact.

Update: There's sweeping judgement going around, by people with nothing better to do than criticize the president, that Obama should be at Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day, not Biden. Well, folks, Ronald Reagan had a deputy defense secretary lay the wreath at Arlington. And it's not like he's blowing off the whole day. He's going to the Lincoln National Cemetery.

There is such nonsense out there, such ignorance, that it's a wonder our society functions at all.

And perhaps, Obama would like to spend some quality time with his children and friends in Chicago for two days. It's well deserved.

Obama will speak at 12:45 pm eastern. From the White House:

On Thursday, May 27, President Barack Obama and his family will travel to Chicago, where they will spend the weekend. On Monday, the President will participate in a Memorial Day ceremony at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood, Illinois.

Also on Monday, the Vice President and Dr. Jill Biden will host a breakfast for Gold Star Families at the White House. Afterwards, the Vice President and Dr. Biden will participate in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.

Obama first spoke at the Lincoln National Cemetery in 2005. Read that speech here. An excerpt:

What led these men and women to wear their country's uniform?

What is it that leads anyone to put aside their own pursuit of happiness; to subordinate their own sense of survival, for something larger - something greater?

Behind each stone is one of these stories; a personal journey that eventually led to the decision to fight for one's country and defend the freedoms we enjoy. Most of the Americans who rest here were like my grandfather, a WWII vet who volunteered after Pearl Harbor, fought in Patton's Army, but was lucky enough to came back in one piece, and went on to live well into his twilight years.

My grandfather never boasted about it. He treated the fact that he served in the military like it was only a matter of fact.

Reporter's Emotional Encounter With Obama at Arlington Cemetery's Section 60

Obama makes an emotional connection with NY Daily News reporter James Gordon Meek, who was visiting a friend at Section 60. Presidents don't usually go to Section 60, where soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan are buried, but Obama made an unscheduled visit. See that here. Meek: "He was absolutely somber and serious."

It's a section typically bustling with those visiting loved ones. Every time I go there, more and more graves have been dug into the earth.

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. Read more at NYDN

Obama Visits Section 60 Graves at Arlington

Update Nov. 12: Obama's encounter with a visitor to Section 60.

No sitting president has walked among these graves, according to Katie Couric:

Michelle Obama and Jill Biden honor vets:

On this Veterans Day, First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden joined ServiceNation to express their support and gratitude for the nation's veterans, servicemembers, and their families. They also helped inaugurate the launch of ServiceNation's Mission Serve initiative that works to partner civilian and military service organizations across the country.

More than 50 organizations -- including Blue Star Families, Big Brothers and Big Sisters, Give an Hour, and Student Veterans of America -- have come together on a mission to serve, offering the opportunity to bridge the gap from military to civilian life for returning servicemembers by allowing them to apply their military skills to civilian service. Veteran and Chairman of Mission Serve Col. (Ret.) Robert Gordon described the initiative as "meaningfully integrating service to country with service to community." First Read

Obama Speaks at Memorial Day Ceremony

Prior to the wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, Obama invited families who had lost loved ones in the war to a private breakfast.

President Barack Obama has praised the men and women of America's fighting forces as the "best of America."

The president spoke after participating in a solemn Memorial Day tradition, laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery. It is the burial ground for American veterans dating back to the Revolutionary War.

In brief remarks after the wreath-laying, Obama wondered why the country's fallen warriors were willing to bear the heaviest burden.

He said a willingness to risk their lives for people they've never met "is why they are the best of America."

As usual, the wingnuts on both the left and the right stirred up some controversy instead of letting the day be what it's supposed to be:

Despite an appeal for him to end a presidential tradition dating back to Woodrow Wilson, President Barack Obama sent a Memorial Day wreath to the Confederate Monument at Arlington Cemetery. But he also sent a wreath to a monument honoring African-American soldiers who fought in the Civil War.

A group of several dozen university professors and scholars wrote a letter to the president asking him to not send a wreath or any commemorative token to the memorial erected in honor of the soldiers who fought and died for the South in the Civil War.

Click here to read the full text of the letter.

"We ask you to break this chain of racism stretching back to Woodrow Wilson, and not send a wreath or other token of esteem to the Arlington Confederate Monument," the letter states. "This monument should not be elevated in prestige above other monuments by a presidential wreath."

In their letter to the president, the group says that the monument is a "denial of the wrong committed against African Americans by slave owners, Confederates, and neo-Confederates."

Obama also sent a wreath to the African-American Civil War Memorial in Washington, D.C. He is the first president to send a wreath to this memorial that honors the 200,000 African-American soldiers who fought for the Union Army. ABC

The wingnuts on the right were in high gear because one of the letter signers was William Ayres.
Here is the wreath-laying ceremony video:

Obama's remarks:

Transcript here.