Michelle Obama's Emotional Meeting With Military Families

[babylonsister]

Exclusive: Michelle Obama's Emotional Meeting With Military Families
First Lady Tells ABC News That President Obama Is 'What We Need Right Now'
By KAREN TRAVERS
March 13, 2009

snip//

But she was at her most emotional in talking about the families of soldiers and their financial battles while a parent is deployed to battle al Qaeda or the Taliban.

"It hurts. It hurts," the first lady said of hearing about military families on food stamps. "These are people who are willing to send their loved ones off to, perhaps, give their lives -- the ultimate sacrifice. But yet, they're living back at home on food stamps. It's not right, and it's not where we should be as a nation."

To highlight that concern, Mrs. Obama made her first trip outside Washington as first lady Thursday to Fort Bragg, N.C., where she visited with military families. It was an emotional meeting that clearly moved her.

"Our soldiers and their families have done their duty. They do it without complaint. And we as a grateful nation must do ours and do everything in our power to honor them by supporting them," she said at the Fort Bragg Community Center.

more...

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Politics/story?id=7067528&page=1

[firedupdem]

1. I am happy our First Lady is talking about this issue. I just

watched the video of her interview with Robin from Good Morning America. She's doing a great job. Rethugs love to wave the flag and talk about patriotism but they care less about these families.

[espiral]

2. re: OP

I watched it last night. Michelle is off to a beautiful start; and I look forward to seeing and hearing much more from her in times to come.

[babylonsister]

3. She is, and I'm loving everything she has done so far. She's a great

representative for us all. And welcome to DU, espiral! :fistbump:

[espiral]

13. re: babylonsister

Thanks- nice to meet you! :fistbump:

[Cha]

4. It sure was emotional for

those who saw this, too, and thought about how far we've come since bushit didn't have the guts to meet with Cindy Sheehan.

[rvablue]

5. K&R. Did Mrs. Bush do this even one single time in the all the years her husband was

sending people off to war? One time?

Because, if she did, I must have blinked and missed it.

Thank you, First Lady Obama, for listening to military families and their plight and reminding us the great sacrifice they all make!

[vaberella]

9. I don't remember it either. I do remember her calling Katrina, 'Ka-Karina', though.

No one called her uncaring ass on that one.

[MissDeeds]

12. No, I don't think she did

Or the media would have been all over it. I don't think she went as far as "Bar" who didn't want to bother her "beautiful mind" with the numbers of the war dead, but as the wife of Jr., Pickles must have had a cold lump of coal where her heart was supposed to be. How else could she have endured his blood lust and war mongering?

[alsame]

6. Our First Lady is the real thing - she doesn't have to 'act' like

she cares about people, it's genuine. And people can sense that and they respond to it, you can see it in their faces.

[jwirr]

7. When my daughter and her husband were in the Army he got most

of the paycheck and it was not unusual for other husbands to give the wife the $250 stipend she was allowed for herself and her children while he kept the rest. My children saw families trying to live on that $250 a month. They also could get food stamps and they had medical and usually housing. Have they changed this stipend system to reflect what a family really needs to live on if the husband refuses to share his income? I used husband and wife in this example but it is interchangeable. There is a real problem with this and I am wondering if it still exists.

[loudsue]

8. And if the pentagon will quit issuing contracts to pay KBR & Blackwater

employees $1,000 / day and better, then our military budget would be able to provide a living wage to people in our military.

The outsourcing of our military needs to STOP.

[southernyankeebelle]

14. WOW HARD TO HEAR

THAT A WIFE WAS LEFT $250.OO TO SUPPORT HER FAMILY AND HER HUSBAND KEPT THE REST. I WONDER WHEN HE KEPT THE REST OF THE MONEY DID HE PAY THE FAMILY BILLS? MY HUSBAND HAD THE CHECK BOOK WHEN HE WENT OVERSEAS AND I DIDN'T WANT TO DO THE CHECKS FOR THE BILLS. I WORKED WHILE HE WAS GONE AND WE HAD ONE CHILD. WE LIVED ON WHAT I MADE AND IT WAS FINE. OF COURSE I LIVED AT HOME WITH MY SISTER. WHEN HE CAME HOME EVERY 3-4 MONTHS HE TAKE ME TO THE COMMISSARY AND I WOULD SPEND ABOUT $500 IN GROCERIES AND THAT LAST US AWHILE. WHEN HE FINALLY CAME HOME HE SAVED A LOT OF MONEY. HE WASN'T THE TYPE TO GO OUT AND SPEND MONEY. I WENT TO VISIT HIM ONE TIME FOR 2 WEEKS AND ENJOYED IT. I AM VERY LUCKY TO HAVE A WONDERFUL SUPPORTIVE HUSBAND. I FOLLOWED HIM EVERYWHERE EXCEPT FOR THE LAST TOUR. AFTER THAT I SWORN NEVER AGAIN WOULD WE BE SEPARATED LIKE THAT. WE NEVER DID. NOW WE ARE RETIRED AND VERY HAPPY.

[Ilsa]

15. Sounds like you had a plan that worked for you. Most of these

families in places like Fort Bragg, if their spouses are deployed, they are unable to join them in places like Afghanistan and Iraq. And living with your sister means you didn't have utilities or a house payment. I guess you paid her rent. It doesn't surprise me that you were able to live on your income with just the two of you and shopping at the Commissary. I hope she is in as good shape as you, financially, for her kindness to you and your child. Alot of people don't have that option, either.

[Hope And Change]

10. K & R!

[MadMaddie]

11. Reading some of the comments is stunning

I know there are selfish people out there but to talk about suffering military families and scorn them is uncalled for. They mocked the military wives for talking about how their lives are when their spouses are sent over seas.

They have no idea what it is like to be in the military and receive substandard pay to work 24/7.

Bless Michelle for taking this task on and bringing to light what is going on with our military families. Thre is absolutely no reason for military families to have to receive welfare. They have to increase their pay so they are actually living wages.

[symbolman]

16. Part of our family lore is when my dad was being a dick

While away in the military, apparently seeing another woman, and sending my mother SQUAT back home, evidently she wrote to his base Commander and not long after my father was promoted to "Tail Gunner", possibly the most dangerous job in the Army Air Corps at that time..

I heard the money came pretty regular after that, and my dad went on to sire many more children :)

Thank god for Michelle, an actual Human Being, not like that shithead Xanax Woman ..

[IndianaGreen]

17. Here is how the military press reported this story

First Lady Visits Fort Bragg, Vows Support for Military Families

By Reginald Rogers
Special to American Forces Press Service

FORT BRAGG, N.C., March 13, 2009 – First lady Michelle Obama said she was committed to improving support for military families yesterday during her first visit here as first lady.

Obama said her commitment to improving family support began two years ago at the beginning of her husband's campaign, after hearing about the challenges military spouses faced.

"I spent a lot of my time talking about issues that really affected me as a working mom," Obama said. "I met more and more military families who were not just struggling with those basic issues that all civilians are dealing with, but they were tacking on multiple tours of duty and having to figure out how do you keep a family together when you moved 10 times in the same number of years.

"I was moved by the power of those stories, and I committed to myself then that if I was blessed with the opportunity to be the nation's first lady, then I would make the issues facing military families a top priority for me," she said.

The first lady pointed out a few of the issues military families face including quality education on military posts, adequate childcare for families who live on- and off-post, and for military spouses, how to balance higher education, careers and family support during deployments.

Obama said it is important to hear military families’ concerns and provide a voice for them in Washington.

"First of all, my job is to listen and learn and to make sure that the families understand that not only the Obama family, but the Obama administration values their service and is going to be working to shine a light," she said. "I want to make sure that I use my platform to ensure that the nation is aware of these challenges."

She said many people may assume that by caring for the troops, they also are taking care of military families.

"I think many people were like me, not realizing so many of our military families are living right at the poverty line," she explained, "not realizing that it is hard for spouses to get jobs when the move, or that they can't often transfer credits and finish their education, and they’re struggling with the high cost of quality and affordable childcare."

Obama said she wants to bring military families’ issues to light.

"I also think that there are some real practical issues that the Obama administration is expected to address," she said. "In the stimulus package, there is more money for improved housing support, expanding childcare, and making sure that we're caring for our wounded veterans."

The first lady said it is important to make sure that when wounded veterans return home, they will receive quality medical care. She added that in the current budget, the president also is looking for more money to increase military pay, expand childcare and ensure that there is adequate mental health support.

"Those are just some of the things," she said. "As Barack said, this is a down payment on what we need to be doing, and we've got to make sure that this budget passes and the dollars start flowing."

Obama spoke on the importance of having adequate childcare for military families.

"I think everyone calms down when they think their kids are taken care of," she said. "So having good childcare facilities -- I think we're going to see some of that money start to come in so that folks can get off the waiting lists and get into childcare facilities. Not just on bases, but in the surrounding communities as well, because not everybody lives on a base; not everybody can transfer their kids back and forth to bases."

Many family members spoke to her about streamlining the available support so that it is more consistent at all bases, Obama said. It is equally important to make information available to families to prevent hardships once they transfer to different bases, she noted.

Obama said she was impressed with the Fort Bragg community.

"The spirit here, that impressed me the first time I came here, just a little over a year ago,” she said. “The folks here are very proud of their service, and the leadership here takes support to families very seriously."

She recalled one of the military spouses who recently had spoken with her own mother and explained the kind of support available on the post. She said the mother pointed out that none of those systems or programs existed in the past when she was raising her family here.

"Fort Bragg demonstrates that we've made a lot of progress in term of support for military families," Obama said. "But I think the leadership here would say that we still have work to do."

Obama praised Fort Bragg and the Fayetteville community, saying it is a model for other military towns because of the support and facilities available to soldiers and family members.

"There is a commitment to the resources that are needed across the board for families," she said. "There's the Family Covenant that really sets forth the priorities and the values that should guide the support that the military is going to give.

"There's a broader community of support here in Fayetteville and the surrounding counties that is the model," she continued. "So this is one of the places that we should look for the type of support that we need."

Obama wants to put a call out to the nation to be mindful that this is a nation at war.

"There are troops out there right now fighting for our freedom and our security," she said. "When they go, they leave behind families.

The first lady extended the opportunity to help military families to the rest of the nation, whether they live in military communities or not.

"It's incumbent upon us as a nation to look in our schools and figure out which child has parents that's deployed and be aware of that and be conscious of that," she said. "It's incumbent upon us to look in our own backyards to our neighbors and to figure out who's out there serving our country, and what kind of support that they need. We need to make sure, as a community, that we're coming together around those families."

(Reginald Rogers serves with the Fort Bragg public affairs office.)

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=53468

[appleannie1]

18. She is making a difference in her own way.

I think she looks better in sleeveless shifts and she should not cave to please the dogood hissy fit moralists that judge her clothing as 'unseemly'. IMO they are just jealous they don't look as good.