Exuberant Mrs. Bush Gives Pep Talk to Marine Families

QUANTICO, Va. —  An exuberant Barbara Bush gave a pep talk to Marine families Tuesday and predicted that a U.S.-led triumph in the Persian Gulf War will make the world a better place.

She said her husband was “working night and day to end this dreadful war honorably.”

“I think we’re very close to over and I think we should be so proud of our military and our leadership,” she told reporters after making a speech before 600 people and meeting privately with the families of 30 Marines who are fighting in the war.

“I think it’s going to change the world,” she said at the close of an hourlong visit to the Marine Corps Combat Development Command. “I hope we’re going to be a better world because of it.”

Sgt. Diane Rowe, a pregnant Marine whose husband, Philip Dover, is with front-line forces in the Gulf, said the visit by the First Lady boosted her spirits.

“She asked me when the baby was due,” Rowe said. “I told her in June. She said: ‘Well, by then, your husband should be home.’ ”

Quantico is on the Potomac River, 40 miles south of Washington. It has sent 200 Marines directly to the conflict, but every Marine officer has trained here, according to Lt. Col. Robert McLean, the base public affairs officer.

The dramatic success of the allied ground war shows that “prayers have been answered,” Mrs. Bush said.

“The country is really, truly wrapped in yellow ribbons,” she added.

Mrs. Bush defended her husband’s demands for the Iraqi army to lay down its arms and surrender, calling Saddam Hussein a “most brutal, awful (man) . . . who can’t be trusted.”

Mrs. Bush advised the families of Marines fighting the war to “keep life at home on an even keel” by making sure the mortgage gets paid, dentist appointments are kept and homework gets done.

She recalled her own fears as a college student in 1944 when George Bush was serving in the Pacific as a Navy combat pilot.

“We do understand a little bit of what you’re going through, the loneliness, the uncertainty and the fear,” Mrs. Bush said. “I believe that my job is to look after George Bush as he copes with the most important decisions and responsibilities that a President can face.

“After 46 years of marriage--and I know I really shouldn’t say this--but I am overwhelmed and awed by how stable George is and how steady he is,” she added.