Bush Applauds Injured Soldiers For Service
Thursday, December 18, 2003
WASHINGTON — President Bush, visiting wounded troops at Walter Reed Army Medical Center (search), praised the medical staff Thursday for "healing the defenders of our country" and said he was especially moved to see that a triple amputee he'd previously met now could walk.
"I remember coming here a couple months ago to pin the Purple Heart (search) on a fellow who lost both legs and one arm. Today, I saw him walking," Bush said, to loud cheers from his audience.
He met with about 30 soldiers admitted to the hospital for orthopedic injuries stemming from their service in Iraq and Afghanistan, and separately with about 20 physical therapy outpatients and their relatives. The president honored some with Purple Hearts, the military award for wounded service members.
"We've put a lot of fine troops into harm's way to make this country more secure and the world more free and the world more peaceful. We ask them to face great dangers to meet a national need," Bush told about 200 Walter Reed doctors, nurses and other staff.
In return, Bush said, "We have made a commitment ... to provide excellent health care, excellent care to anybody who is injured on the battlefield. Here at Walter Reed, all of you are making good on that commitment -- you're saving the lives of liberators, you're healing the defenders of our country, you're comforting the champions of freedom."
Bush also dropped in on Secretary of State Colin Powell, whom he reported was "doing very well" after Monday's prostate cancer (search). Powell was later discharged from the hospital.
The 57-year-old president spent about two hours Thursday morning getting MRIs, or magnetic resonance imaging scans, to help diagnose pain that bothers him when running.
Walter Reed currently has about 220 admitted patients. Roughly 40 of those are classified as "battle casualties" from Iraq and Afghanistan. Many more patients at the hospital are being treated for non-battle injuries or illnesses after serving in Afghanistan or Iraq.
Bush had nothing but praise for the sacrifices of those troops.
"When I spend time with members of our military, I'm impressed by the idealism, and concern for each other and the strong sense of duty that our soldiers feel," he said. "You know them well, I'm coming to know them, they're the finest of our citizens."
Bush went to Walter Reed on Jan. 17 to visit injured soldiers from Afghanistan. On April 11, as well as on Sept. 11, he met privately with soldiers being treated for wounds suffered in Iraq and gave 18 of them the Purple Heart. He also has visited with wounded troops at the National Naval Medical Center (search) in Bethesda, Md. |
