Bush Praises Marines for Fighting Terror

CAMP PENDLETON —  President Bush flew across the country Tuesday to thank Marines for their ongoing service in the fight against terrorism, and urged all Americans to “find some way to thank our military and to help out the military family down the street.”

During his five-hour visit to San Diego County, Bush met in small groups with more than 50 families of those who died in Iraq and with Marines who were injured there.

Before he landed in a helicopter at this sprawling seaside base, the president also attended a ceremony at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station, where he presented a citation to an elite, multi-service special operations task force that was created shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and served in Afghanistan at the start of that war.

The Camp Pendleton-based 1st Expeditionary Force has had more than 200 members killed in Iraq, more combat casualties than any other military base.

In his remarks, Bush warned that as the Jan. 30 date set for Iraqi election nears, violence in that country would probably escalate.

“You see, the terrorists understand what is at stake. They know they have no future in a free Iraq, because free people never choose their own enslavement,” Bush said. “When Iraqis choose their leaders in free elections, it will destroy the myth that the terrorists are fighting a foreign occupation and make clear that what the terrorists are really fighting is the will of the Iraqi people.”

It was Bush’s second visit to Camp Pendleton as president. He last spoke here May 29, 2001, hailing the Marines for their energy conservation efforts.

The president received a rousing welcome Tuesday from thousands of Marines and their relatives, most of whom stood on a soggy football field under a slate-gray sky.

During his 26-minute speech, the president spoke of the many hardships that military families endure, and he called attention to a volunteer program that provides assistance to them. He urged Americans to visit a Defense Department website, www.Americasupportsyou.mil, saying: “You can go there to learn about efforts in your own community to say you support our troops.”

Bush cited the work of several individuals throughout the country, among them a California teenager, Shauna Fleming, a freshman at Lutheran High School in Orange, who gathered a million thank-you notes for the troops. He mentioned a Vietnam veteran in Washington, Steve Cobb, who regularly greets wounded troops upon their arrival at Andrews Air Force Base, and a Massachusetts contractor, John Gonzales, who started Home For Our Troops, a nonprofit organization that builds and adapts homes for disabled veterans.

“Across our country, Americans are coming together to surround our deployed forces and wounded warriors with love and support. We should be doing more,” Bush said.

The government has acknowledged that it needs to offer more support to veterans, including helping wounded troops adjust to life after they leave military hospitals.

Since the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq began, more than 6,200 troops have been wounded in action, according to a Pentagon count late last summer, and 57% of those were so severely injured that they were unable to return to duty.

Those whose injuries from battle qualify them for disability compensation often wait six months to two years to receive it. The Department of Veterans Affairs has said it has taken steps to cut the wait time. Families of the Marines said they appreciated Bush’s visit.

“I’m just so glad that he took his time to come here and to tell us that he understands what military families are going through,” said Teresa Warren, whose husband, Master Sgt. William Warren, is in his third tour in Iraq, this time in the battle-torn city of Fallouja, the insurgent stronghold in the Sunni Triangle.

Warren and her two children, Justin, 16, and Ciara, 13, were in the bleachers for the speech. Civilian families, she said, cannot imagine the daily stress that military families endure.

Every phone call and every knock brings a dash of terror: Could this be a notification that their loved one is wounded, killed or missing? “You just have to have faith in God, and faith in the corps,” said Warren, wearing a dress that looked like an American flag.

Heather Jay, whose husband, Sgt. Edmund Jay, is in Iraq, said the speech “touched us in a very special way. I think it will keep our morale up.”

“We need to know all the time that the men are not dying in vain in Iraq,” Jay said.

Elizabeth Henderson, married to Sgt. Stephen Henderson, said she thought the speech would boost the morale of wives whose husbands were in Iraq.

“Many of the families are going home for Christmas,” she said. “They need support at times like this. We try to be strong for each other.”