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 are “what sacrifice really is,’’ said to Representative Robert Andrews, Democrat of New Jersey, 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 that 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.
Obama was scheduled to arrive in Asia on Thursday, but a source familiar with his planning said yesterday that the president 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.
