A Christmas Tradition: Bush Visits the Wounded

WASHINGTON, Dec. 22, 2006 — -- Just as he has each of the last four years, President Bush today paid a visit to members of the military who were wounded in action.

The president spent a few hours visiting with wounded troops and their families at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, a private time without reporters and staff that he called "remarkable," before he left for Camp David to celebrate Christmas with the extended Bush clan. He visited 38 members of the Army, Marines and Air Force who'd been wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Bush awarded 16 Purple Hearts to 14 individuals, including two to Sgt. Marcus Wilson from Dermott, Ark., who is recovering at Walter Reed from wounds suffered in Iraq.

White House Deputy Press Secretary Dana Perino said the president and first lady gain strength from seeing the wounded troops and their families. During these visits, the president talks about his appreciation for their service, and Perino noted that it is always a very special private time for him.

These trips to visit with wounded troops are not open to the press -- the small group of reporters who accompany the president every day do travel to the medical facility with him, but they are not permitted inside as he meets with the soldiers and their families.

These visits offer the wounded soldiers an opportunity to meet their commander in chief, and most do not want to do that in the glare of cameras and lights. It gives the president an opportunity to privately thank them for their service and hear about their experiences.

The White House releases a few pictures of the president with the service members, but these are moments that are not captured by a television camera.

Bush frequently meets with families of fallen soldiers when he is flying in or out of cities with military bases. These visits are also not open to the press, and the president does not talk about what he hears from the families.

News reports, however, have quoted family members with whom he has met as saying the president became very emotional, crying with the grieving families and listening as they talked about their loved ones.