For Immediate Release
Office of the First Lady
March 5, 2004
Remarks by the First Lady to the Fort Hood Women's Conference
Comanche Chapel Fort Hood, Texas
9:28 A.M. CST
MRS. BUSH: Thanks a lot. Thank you very much. I'm the one that
should be applauding you. Thank you all very, very much. Thank you,
Beth, for your warm welcome. And thanks to the members of the
conference board for organizing this great conference. Thanks also to
Mrs. Meigs, who will be your keynote speaker later. Thank you for
letting me -- is she up here? Oh, there she is -- share the stage with
you. Thanks a lot.
I've been so looking forward to this. I think it was supposed to
be a surprise -- but my office leaked it. (Laughter.) But I've been
really looking forward to being with you today, to have this chance to
thank you for your devotion to your loved ones and to our country.
President Bush was also very excited that I was coming with you
today -- but, in fact, when I read the conference schedule and saw that
there was a program on gardening, I thought maybe he should come with
me. (Laughter.) He's not great at yard work; he only likes to work
with a chainsaw. (Laughter.) When we married, he'd already bought a
house in Midland, so I moved into his new house that he had just owned
for a few months before we married. And when I moved in the weeds were
six feet tall in the yard -- so I always like to kid him that he
married me because he wanted a gardener. (Laughter.)
We're so happy to be in Texas this weekend. We're going to host
Vicente Fox, the President of Mexico, and Martha Fox, tonight at the
ranch, and we're looking forward to that.
And I'm especially glad to be here at Fort Hood. I want to thank
Linda for welcoming me, as well. Texans are so proud that our state is
home to so many fine military men and women -- including the Third
Corps, the 13th Core Support Command, the Iron Horse and the First
Team. (Applause.) Every member of Fort Hood serves with honor and
courage, and Americans appreciate your dedication.
Today, we celebrate the spirit of another strong group in the
military -- the elite special forces who don't wear uniforms, or fly
blackhawks, or carry weapons; a band of sisters who support their loved
ones, and each other, so that America remains a land of freedom.
Today, we celebrate you, the women in the United States military who
are married to military officers or enlisted men, or who are military
women, themselves. And we celebrate all that you do to make our
military the strongest in the world.
I know about having your life turned upside down because the man
you love wants to serve the country he loves. (Laughter.) And I know
that many of you make sacrifices to help your spouses fulfill his
dreams. Like you, President Bush and I have moved a lot -- five times,
and we've lived in six different homes. Moving and packing and hoping
our children will be happy in a new home is something that I can relate
to.
And so is change. For you, change means moving and starting over.
But it also means new friends and new opportunities. Your
determination to make a home for your family wherever you are matches
your husband's devotion to duty. Wherever you go, you continue your
own careers, or volunteer your time, helping to make the world a better
place. President Bush joins me in thanking you for everything you do
-- not just as soldiers or military wives and mothers, but as
volunteers, as mentors, as role models, who make up the greatest
support system in our country.
I know you're proud of your husbands, and I'm incredibly proud of
mine. President Bush -- I've watched him as he's led our country with
compassion and conviction through some of the toughest challenges in
America's history. This time of war has been a time of hardship for
military families. Some of you have been separated from your loved
ones by long deployments. You're dealing with added burdens at home,
while praying for your husband, or your son, or your daughter far from
home. Some of you are facing deployment yourselves, or the deployment
of your loved ones, in the next few weeks. Our entire nation
appreciates the sacrifices you make, and we pray for our troops and
that they will return safely and soon. We're happy that the soldiers
of the 4th ID are coming home. (Applause.)
President Bush and I are proud of every member of our military.
And, of course, of the 1st Brigade Combat Unit, who helped capture
Saddam Hussein. (Applause.)
Over the last year, the world has witnessed the skill and the
resolve of our military -- from Korea to Kosovo to the Middle East.
We've seen their courage and their decency to the people of Afghanistan
and Iraq. From the beginning of the battle to this very hour, our
troops have conducted themselves with honor and compassion. Our
military men and women have helped to free 50 million people from the
oppression of two brutal regimes. They've given an entire generation
of children in Iraq and Afghanistan and America the chance to grow up
in peace.
They're defending freedom and restoring civilization. They're
supplying villages with their first taste of clean water. They're
delivering medicine to sick children, and supplies to hospitals and
schools. Our troops and their coalition partners have refurbished over
1,500 schools so millions of children can study and learn again. Our
soldiers are involved in the historic task of building democracies --
and in the true American spirit, they are building hope one heart at a
time.
Lieutenant Colonel Steven Maglio, the chaplain from the 4th ID
DIVARTY, started Operation Clothes for Kids in Iraq. With the help of
families here at Fort Hood, he distributed more than 180 boxes of
winter coats and dresses to Iraqi children. When soldiers from Task
Force Iron Horse started renovating schools, they realized that
students didn't have basic supplies, like pencils and notebooks. So
they called their family and friends back home in Killeen, who
collected more than four thousand pounds of supplies. The soldiers
distributed paper and calculators to children in two thousand schools
in Tikrit.
Our soldiers' compassion is not simply part of their mission --
it's part of their character. We'll never forget their commitment to
our country. The peace and security of America depends upon their
bravery and their willingness to serve. In doing so, our soldiers
accept the dangers and the hardships that this cause requires.
President Bush and I have visited with soldiers at bases all over
the world. And perhaps our most moving visits are at Walter Reed Army
Medical Center. These brave men and women were lying in hospital beds
wounded and broken, yet they talked with enthusiasm about returning to
their units.
I'll never forget their determination. Nor will we forget the men
and women who have fallen in service to America. All of those who
serve in our military deserve our utmost respect -- and so do those who
serve well behind the front lines.
Last year, President Bush and I received a letter from Ana Kehler,
who is stationed here with her husband, Staff Sergeant Craig Kehler, of
the 4th ID. I was moved by her resiliency.
This is what she wrote: "My husband is in Iraq and I haven't heard
from him for two months. But I'm not worried because I know he has the
best training. I watch the news constantly with the hope that I may
see him. But the part of the news that makes me cry is seeing children
suffer. I cried when I watched a Marine carry a child to get her
medical attention. Even though I'd give anything to have my husband
return, I know our job isn't done. I feel emptiness in my heart with
my husband deployed, but the sadness I have for the children of Iraq
won't go away until I know we have done all we can as Americans."
Like our troops, your spirit is invincible -- and I know that
you'll continue to hold each other, and your families and this country
together as only an elite band of sisters can. (Applause.)
Thank you for everything that you do to support your husbands and
to strengthen America. And may God grant all of us strength and
patience, and may God bless the United States of America. Thank you
all so much. (Applause.)
END 9:38 A.M. CST
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