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>> the first laid yi michelle obama and jill biden supporting military spouses. president obama proclaimed friday as military spouse

appreciation day. this is about 25 minutes. [applause]

>> if we close our eyes and ti of our own mothers, what comes to smientd legacy of women we knew or never knew in the families woven within us and passed on through generations. in the words. in spite of the unique and special challenges they bare, military moms are so often the glue that holds some of our nations most generous families

together. as spouses, they often parent alone when their soldier, marine or air guardsman are gone for a long time. or, they serve our great nation in uniform themselves. among the families of the active duty, the national guard and reserve. the rich tradition are lived each day and rest in their hearts, long after they are shed. today, we are fortunate to have with us a splended representation of military moms,

gold star moms, gold star spouses for whom they are pioneered. this is an intergeneration al gathering of mothers who continue to inspire and nurture. they have an opportunity to introduce a truly remarkable woman. dr. biden is a talented woman of many diverse accomplishments. she understands the importants of a military mom so well

because she is one. she is an an exception al educa educator. working to raise her family, she earned two masters degrees and is a full-time professor. one of her first significant leadership was creating along with the first lady the joint leadership campaign. strengthen the support by reaching out with gestures of

kindness and opportunities they discern. i'm so proud. she shares the accomplishments. she has seen her own son off to war and endured the long way of the return and the knowing of wartime service was not left to other families it is my great privilege to introduce to you dr. jill biden.

>> thank you, patty for that warm introduction and all you do. i love seeing you ear today. thank you. good afternoon. >> a special honor to welcome you all to the white house today. this has been quite a week, wasn't it. yesterday, i joined my husband at the pentagon to co-mem rate the attacks on the pentagon.

on sunday night, after the president made an announcement i was up late sitting on the steps of our residence in my bathrobe. i could hear them at the gates. there were people there singing god bless america. it really just renewed all that we know. it was such a great feeling

>> to the sibblings or children who are strong while mom and dad are aware both parents of three children under ten were deployed. their grandparents had gathered around. what a gift to those children to

be surrounded by love while both parents were deployed. last summer, i travelled to iraq to visit our troops. i had lunch with several female soldiers, many of whom were forths they were managing all of the challenges of mothering one woman fought back tiers as she told me she was missing out on taking her youngest daughter off to college. all i could do there was reach across the table and take her hand

[applause] thank you. thank you all so much. please rest. enjoy the tae. welcome to 9 white house. isn't this great? everyone looks amazing. it is like a roam full of bursting flowers and all the

ladies. do you have your pinkies up? something like that? >> let me start recognizing my partner in so much. let me recognize my partner who i didn't know who would be such a friend. a blue star mom herself; dr. jill biden. let's give her a round of applause and patty.

she has been a proponent of the soldiers. we are proud of her services i want to thank all of you. i know it is pretty exciting to have tae at the white house. we are probably just as excited to have you hear. we love you all. over the last two years, we have been inspired by all of you in so many ways, spending time with our men and women in uniform has been the highlight of our work in these rolls.

we've been moved by your strength and spirit. by your courage and sacrifice. as you have opened up your arms and hearts to me. i feel it and i know it. you've opened my eyes julying car pools and soccer practices. caring for a loved one or

mourning a spouse or child that never made it home >> all we can do is hug you and tell you we are thinking and praying and tell you we are proud of you. others have served yourself changing and leaving friends

behind caring for a kid while caring for a sibbling. a moment for all of us to remember that everyone who serves is able to do so because of the love and support of their families everything you do is not easiment i know everyday you deal with incredible things. incredible challenges, inkred inning strength.

something else i learned from you all, rose anna and her daughter tyler with father serving in the army. tyler is already a junior in high school and has attended ten schools all in the continent. next year, they are moving to germany. then there's helen and her daughter julia. they know a thing or two. when julia had to deploy to iraq. helen was there everyday to help take care of 3-year-old gym in as ticks. she enrolled in gymnastics and

took him to his dentist appointment. helen would often leave work and drive to hispre school so he could hear his mom's voice. last year, their house was destroyed by a tornado. helen jump ped on top of isiaha and broke two vert bra in her back. as julia said, she has been the best grandmother and mother any soldier could ask for. [applause]

there are stories like this at your own table. every one of you is serving our country. making a difference at your work places last week, we started joining forces we joined support

of our military families. we asked one simple question. how can i give back to the families that helped so much we are joining corporations like school ptas. we are joining businesses and non-profits helping military spouses find and keep jobs we

believe this is what you discern from us on the battlefield and home is something every american should do. to everyone here, i want to say thank you. thank you for your strength, your commitment. thank you for setting the example for the rest of us. it has been such an honor to

meet all of you. let's stop crying. remember, it is mother's day. today is a non-let's move day. [applause] >> eat all the cookies you want and enjoy this week. continue to take care of each other. we love you. we are proud of you. thank you all. [applause]

>> gnaw president obama's visit to fort campbell in kentucky. the president and vice president met privately with the special forces team that killed osama bin laden. this is about 20 minutes. >> ladies, the deputy commanding general, jeffery m. colt and the

vice president of the united states, joe biden. it is an honor to be back here. many of you have just gotten

home. i know from experience that your families want more than anything to spend time with you >> i remember my son coming home and i was like, man, stop. i want to see my kid. let me say how much dprat tooed

you are amazing perhaps more than anything else, just being missed. a famous quote, they also serve who stand and wait. your families serve as well. so all the families that are listening their service is as

real azures and it is appreciated you are the most cape able warriors in the history of the world there has never, ever, ever been a fighting force that is more capable than you are. we just got to spend time with the assaulters who got bin lad in. by the way i shouldn't say this. the president could be mad i'm taking so long. today was grandparent's day.

i went back to see my granddaughter's little play. true story. she says she said are you going somewhere in air force 2? i said, yes. she grabbed her little friend and said, my pop is going to see the whales. not the seals but the whales.

i along with all the rest of the security team served. we asked them for advice. we told them this and that and said, i got faith in these guys. he walked off on his own. he decided. he believes not only in the seals but all of you. he made that determination it was an amazing thing to watch. when he got in office. the number one priority was to get osama bin laden. he knew the risks. most importantly, special operations for the guys there.

bob gates was interested. this is going to go down in history. one of the country's leading wearers himself. general jeffery colt. ladies and gentleman, general colt. flu >> thank you. i can only try to tell you today how proud of you this division and local community

>> hello fort campbell. 101st division air staff, hello.

that introduction was great because it was brief. thank you for the leadership you've shown here at one of the largest army bases in america. i make a lot of decisions. one of the earliest and best decisions i made was in choosing my vice president here. i want to thank general colt for welcoming me here today the 101st division band. all these troopers behind me.

you look great. they kind of hesitated we have the green ba rays and special forces group. a few air force here. we thought we did. and of course, the leg dairy screaming eagles. and although they are not in the audience, i want to acknowledge the 160th regiment, the night stalkers for their

accomplishment. [applause] some of you are starting to look familiar. last summer, when were out there to thank you for your service especially during the holidays. we had a big crowd there. since then, i know we've had quite a few home comeings. the rocket shots some of the

division head kwurters on behalf of a greatful nation. welcome home. flu >> our thoughts and prays are with the general. all of the troops still risking their lives in theater. i am so pleased ann campbell, march law schro dven er and some of the inspiring military spouses are over there. thank you so much. this happens to be military spouse appreciation day. we honor your service as well. >> i didn't come here to make a

really long speech. i wanted to come down and shake some hands. say thank you on behalf of america. this has been an historic week in the life of our nation. the terrorist leader will never threaten america again

>> yesterday, i travelled to new york city, along with some families, i laid a wreath with loved ones. firefighters, police officers who lost sox their own when they rushed into the burning towers. i promise the nation will never forget. today, here at fort campbell, i had the privilege of meeting the extraordinary special ops who created that challenge. it's a privilege for me to say to you and on behalf of the rest of the world. job well done. [applause]

>> the success is a man's secrecy. i will say this. like all of you, they could have chosen a life offese. like you, they chose to serve in a time of war, knowing they are going to harm's way. they practice tirelessly for this mission. when i gaft order, they were ready. in recent days, the whole world has learned how ready they were. discerning credit for the greatest military operation in history. so does every person that ware is a uniform. the foinest military the world

has ever known. that includes you, the men and women of the 101st. [applause] . you've been on the front lines of the fight for nearly ten years. you were there in the early days driving the taliban and pushing al qaeda. overtime, you went back in some cases a second, third and fourth time. when the decision was made in iraq, you were there too making the longest air assault. ultimately giving the chance to preserve their democracy. sending more of you into harm's

way was the toughest decision i made as commander and chief. i don't take it lightly. every time i visit walter reid and bath easy dau, i'm reminded of the wages of war. i know it hasn't been easy for you or your families. since 9/11, no base has deployed more often and few have sacrificed more than you. we see it fighting everyday to recover. we see it in the absolute best kier in the world.

we are here for you to keep you strong. most of all, we see the price of war of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. every ceremony is a reminder of the heavy burdens of war, loyalty and duty and honor. here is what each of you must know. because of your service, because of sacrifices, we are making

progress. we are taking leaders off the battlefield we've broken the taliban's momentum. we are building fast in after dpan stan. most of all, we are making progress in our major goal. that is disrupting and defeating al qaeda [applause] >> even before this week's operation, we put your

leadership under more pressure at this time than 9/11. our strategy is working. there is no greater evidence of that than justice being delivered to osama bin laden. i don't want to fool you. this continues to be a tough fight. you know that. because of this, we are moving into this space. in a couple of months, we are moving forward. as we transition, we'll build a long-term partnership so people can never threaten america again from that country. azure commander and chief, i am confident we'll succeed in this

mission. the reason i'm confident is because in you, i see the strength of america's military. because in resent days, we have seen the resillience of american spirit. this week, i received a letter from a girl in new jersey. she wrote to me on monday after the news that bin laden had been killed. she still remembered that september morning almost 10 years ago. she was only 4 years old. her father, glen, was trapped inside the world trade center. in those final, frantic moments. knowing he might not make it. he called home. payton remembers watching her

mom sobing and then passed the phone to payton. in words hard to hear, he said to her, i love you payton and i'll always be watching over you. yesterday she, her mom and sister joined me at ground zero. now she's 14. in a letter, she said ever since my father died, i lost a part of me that can never be replaced. she said she would struggle through the darkness in her life. she is playing a lot of sports doing well in school, mentoring younger students, looking ahead to high school in the fall.

yesterday, she was with us as a strong, confident young woman. for her and all of us, this week has been a reminder of what we are about as a people. it is easy to for get sometimes. especially in times of hardship and uncertainty. coming out of the worst recession since the great depression, we've made enormous sacrifices. but the essence of america. they don't just end dur, they are stronger than ever. we are still the america that does the hard things, the great things. we are the nation that is

willing to take risk. heading west. inowe va fors. we are the nation, you are the division that par schuted behind enemy lines on d. day. we're the nation that all those years ago sent your division to a high school in arkansas so nine black students could get an education. we are the nation that has faced tough times. when your harbor was bombed and the country was attacked. when disaster striked, we do not

faulter or attack. we pick ourselves up. we get up with the hard task of keeping our country safe. when we remember who we are. no problem is too hard. no challenge is too great. that's why i'm confident america's greatest days are still to come. god bless you. god bless the 101st. god bless the united states of america. [applause]

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