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Today the President and the First Lady travelled to Killeen, Texas. They met with families of the fallen and with wounded soldiers and their families at III Corps Headquarters, Fort Hood.

Afterwards, the President spoke to the entire Fort Hood community during a memorial service for the soldiers and civilians killed on November 5th:

We come together filled with sorrow for the thirteen Americans that we have lost; with gratitude for the lives that they led; and with a determination to honor them through the work we carry on.

This is a time of war. And yet these Americans did not die on a foreign field of battle. They were killed here, on American soil, in the heart of this great American community. It is this fact that makes the tragedy even more painful and even more incomprehensible.

For those families who have lost a loved one, no words can fill the void that has been left. We knew these men and women as soldiers and caregivers. You knew them as mothers and fathers; sons and daughters; sisters and brothers.

But here is what you must also know: your loved ones endure through the life of our nation. Their memory will be honored in the places they lived and by the people they touched. Their life’s work is our security, and the freedom that we too often take for granted. Every evening that the sun sets on a tranquil town; every dawn that a flag is unfurled; every moment that an American enjoys life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness – that is their legacy.

Neither this country – nor the values that we were founded upon – could exist without men and women like these thirteen Americans. And that is why we must pay tribute to their stories. 

Read the rest of the President’s remarks as he honors them individually.

From left; Fort Hood commander U.S. Army Lt. General Robert Cone, First Lady Michelle Obama, President Barack Obama, and Texas Gov. Rick Perry attend the attend a memorial service at Fort Hood, Texas, for the victims of the Fort Hood shootings, Nov. 10, 2009. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama pay their respects at the memorial service for victims of the Fort Hood shootings, Nov. 10, 2009, at Fort Hood, Texas. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Soldiers comfort each other at a memorial service for victims of the Fort Hood shootings, Nov. 10, 2009, at Fort Hood, Texas. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

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