POSTED: Tuesday, August 31, 2010 - 5:31pm
UPDATED: Tuesday, September 7, 2010 - 11:40am
EL PASO- President Obama spoke in a mess hall for just over 10 minutes today, to about 140 soldiers.
"The country appreciates you, I appreciate you, and the most pride I take in my job is being your Commander-in-Chief," said the President.
He spoke with gratitude to the soldiers, most fresh from war. He thanked them for their service in Iraq.
And now that their combat mission is over, he said they wouldn't be forgotten at home.
"What I'd like to do is come around and shake all of your hands personally, to say thank you to all of you, to say thank you for a job well done," he said.
And so he shook about 140 sets of hands.
"As a soldier that means a lot because sometimes you have people where you don't feel their connection so definitely, like I said, it's an honor," said soldier Jessica Joseph.
"Personally it made all my deployment and my separations from my kids very worth it. It was a validation of everything that we do," remarked Army Captain Violeta Sifuentes.
Mr. Obama also remembered those at home, supporting loved ones overseas. Several military wives were in attendance, including Rebecca Rogerson
"It just makes it more personal to me that the President took the time out of his schedule to come to shake our hands and to actually talk to us and you know, put a face to the soldier over there fighting," says Rogerson.
The President spent only an hour in Texas, but left behind lasting impressions on the troops he commands.