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First Lady Marks 9/11 With Service to Veterans
(September 12, 2010) |
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MCLEAN, Va., Sept. 11, 2010 – First Lady Michelle Obama
marked the ninth anniversary of 9/11 today with service to
America's veterans. |
First Lady Michelle
Obama poses for a picture with volunteers
helping with a community service project at the
Vinson Hall Retirement Community in McLean, Va.,
Sept. 11, 2010. About 150 volunteers pitched in
on renovation projects for the community's
residents, who include World War II and Vietnam
War veterans. The first lady is flanked by two
of those residents. |
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The first lady pitched in alongside a group of
about 150 volunteers, including veterans of the
Afghanistan and Iraq wars, to help in renovating
a loading dock for residents of the Vinson Hall
Retirement Community here. About 95 percent of
the community's 180 residents are veterans, some
with service dating back to World War II.
Mission Serve, a civilian-military initiative,
helped to organize the community service project
at the center in honor of the National Day of
Service and Remembrance. Obama and Dr. Jill
Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, helped
to launch this initiative a year ago with an aim
to bring together civilian and military
communities through service and volunteerism.
The volunteers, many of them college students
from George Washington |
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University, gave a resounding cheer when Obama
arrived at the center, nestled in a tree-lined
suburb of the nation's capital. She greeted the
volunteers, many with a big smile and a high
five, before jumping in to work with them. |
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“We're always honored when the first lady joins us,” said
Ross Cohen, director of Mission Serve and an Afghanistan
veteran. “It's a profound statement to turn a tragedy into a
force for good.”
Doing her part to serve, Obama grabbed a paint roller and
began coating a brick wall of the loading dock with broad
strokes of white paint. She chatted with another volunteer,
unconcerned with the paint splattering white flecks on her
black slacks and purple sneakers. She then moved on to paint
pipes bright orange to make them more visible.
The first lady climbed a ladder to reach closer to the
ceiling while a volunteer, Brian Hawthorne, held the ladder
still. “Use two hands,” another volunteer called out to him.
He laughed and gripped tighter.
Hawthorne is a two-time Iraq war veteran and Army reservist
with the 450th Civil Affairs Battalion in College Park, Md.
He's also a graduate student at George Washington
University, and helped to coordinate the participation of a
group of GWU student volunteers.
“It's great to see the collaboration between veterans and
nonveterans here,” said Hawthorne, a combat medic and civil
affairs team sergeant.
While painting, Obama asked Hawthorne about his service, he
said, and about other community service projects his student
organization is involved in. “We're really excited to have
her here,” he said.
Fellow GWU student Scott Disney agreed. “It's pretty awesome
she's here,” he said. “I never imagined she was coming when
I was told about this project.” Disney also is an Army
veteran who served in Afghanistan from 2007 to 2008.
Just behind the first lady, Marie Tillman, the widow of
Scott Tillman, an Army Ranger who was killed in Afghanistan
in 2004, freshened up a faded-out wall with white paint.
Tillman is the founder of the Pat Tillman foundation, which
provides educational resources for veterans.
“It's wonderful that we can make Sept. 11 into a service
day,” she said. “And having the first lady here brings a lot
to this effort.”
The first lady reluctantly relinquished her paint brush
after speaking with several volunteers. Before heading out,
she moved to a shaded area under a pine tree to chat with
some of the community's residents, including Navy veterans
of the attack on Pearl Harbor and the Battle of Midway.
Retired Navy Cmdr. Verner Utke-Ramsing said he was thrilled
to meet the first lady. The 91-year-old served from 1941 to
1960, having commanded a submarine and a destroyer during
his service. He also served in World War II and was part of
the Battle of Midway, he said.
Ramsing praised the volunteers who were pitching in to help
his community's residents, particularly the veterans of the
current wars. “They're doing a wonderful job,” he said of
the nation's servicemembers. “I'm so very proud of our young
people.”
He also marveled at today's project. “It's beautiful --
veterans helping veterans,” he said.
In a statement issued yesterday, the first lady said the
spirit of selflessness and service in the wake of the 9/11
tragedy is what inspired the first National Day of Service
and Remembrance last year.
“On this day all Americans can honor the brave men and women
who lost and risked their lives by serving others in their
community,” she wrote in the statement. “On the anniversary
of this tragic day in our history, I hope you will join me
in honoring all those who put the needs of others before
their own by serving in your community.” |
Article and photo by Elaine Wilson
American Forces Press Service
Copyright 2010 |
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