Obama watches a basketball game played by wounded Marines
President Obama will visit with U.S. soldiers receiving care at Walter Reed Medical Center on Friday, a White House official told POLITICO.
It is Obama's first visit to Walter Reed as president. It comes as the president is weighing a decision on a new strategy in Afghanistan that could involve committing tens of thousands of more troops to the conflict.
The president will meet privately with wounded soldiers and staff at the medical center.
The White House official said tomorrow's visit was planned before Thursday's shootings at Fort Hood Army Base. Politico
Yesterday the media reported that the Fort Hood shooter Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan was dead, until it was found late in the day that he was alive. Today, the media is reporting all kinds of sketchy details. The sad part is our wingnuts will persecute Muslims for this and use it in their opposition to Islam. It looks like Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan's motive was not wanting to go to war. His mental health was questionable. It is my contention that human beings are getting a bit too --what's the word-- I hate to say enlightened because we're hardly that, but humans are growing beyond war. It conflicts the mind because we all know, deep down, how ludicrous it is. Anyway, hopefully the military can get some answers from Hasan and learn from it. It would appear that our troops are stretched beyond their means.
NYT has some more details:
Military records indicated that Major Hasan was single, had been born in Virginia, had never served abroad and listed “no religious preference” on his personnel records. Three other soldiers, their roles unclear, were taken into custody in connection with the rampage. The office of Representative John Carter, Republican of Texas, said they were later released, but a Fort Hood spokesman could not confirm that. General Cone said that more than 100 people had been questioned during the day.
Fort Hood, near Killeen and 100 miles south of Dallas-Fort Worth, is the largest active duty military post in the United States, 340 square miles of training and support facilities and homes, a virtual city for more than 50,000 military personnel and some 150,000 family members and civilian support personnel. It has been a major center for troops being deployed to or returning from service in Iraq and Afghanistan. NYT
The day before Obama takes office, he paints a wall at Sasha Bruce, a shelter for teens. Prior to that, he visited wounded troops at a military hospital. Impressive.
WaPo: Obama, who takes the oath of office at noon tomorrow as the nation's 44th president, began his day with a previously unannounced visit to Walter Reed Army Medical Center to meet with wounded troops. During the visit, which lasted a little more than an hour, Obama met with 14 service members recovering from wounds they sustained in Iraq or Afghanistan, aides said.
Accompanied by Martin Luther King III, he then headed to a District shelter for homeless teenagers to lend a hand in a project to renovate the facility's rooms.
In a statement marking the national holiday that commemorates King's birthday, Obama said the civil rights leader lived life "in loving service to others."
"As we honor that legacy, it's not a day just to pause and reflect -- it's a day to act," the president-elect said. Noting that Americans are participating in more than 11,000 service projects across the nation, he appealed to people "to turn today's efforts into an ongoing commitment to enriching the lives of others in their communities, their cities and their country."
Obama walking the talk:
See Obama encircled by cheerleaders here. What's ahead:
Obama watches a basketball game played by wounded Marines
