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Obama cancels speech under storm clouds
CHICAGO, (UPI) -- President Barack Obama canceled a Memorial Day speech near Chicago Monday, instead shepherding the gathered crowd out of a dangerous thunderstorm.
Obama's only scheduled public event Monday was paying respects at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood, Ill., instead of Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
But when a violent downpour caused participants to seek shelter, Obama spoke to the crowd from under an umbrella.
"Excuse me, everybody listen up. We are a little bit concerned about lightning," the president told the crowd. "This may not be safe. I know that all of you are here to commemorate the fallen. ... What we'd like to do is if possible have people move back to their cars and if this passes in the next 15 to 20 minutes I'll stick around."
Obama said he hoped the ceremony could resume later, "but we don't want to endanger anyone, particularly the children, in the audience. A little bit of rain doesn't hurt anybody but we don't want anybody struck by lightning."
The president later canceled his speech and instead spent time with fallen service members' families gathered in buses.
Obama, appearing a bit tired, returned to Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington about 7:30 p.m. and finally delivered his remarks prepared for the earlier event to about 150-200 service members gathered at the base's "tactical fitness center." The more enthusiastic members of the small crowd cheered the president while more reserved service members in the back listened quietly.
After speaking for a few minutes, Obama shook some hands and posed for photos before heading out on the presidential helicopter, Marine One.
Obama thanked the troops for their service and expressed the nation's gratitude for their willingness to put their lives on the line.
"Some of you have come from overseas deployments, some of you are about to go," Obama said. "Let us make sure that all of us are worthy of your sacrifice and of the sacrifices who have fallen.
"Let us go forward as they do, with the confidence and the resolve, the resilience and the unity that's always defined us as a people, and shaped us as a nation and made America a beacon of hope to the world."
Earlier during the three-day weekend, at least three small airplanes violated restricted air space over Obama's Chicago home, officials said.
The air space was declared a temporary restricted flight area because the first family was in Chicago for the holiday weekend.
The Chicago Tribune said it was not clear if the pilots of the planes were aware of the flight restrictions or if they would be charged with any wrongdoing.
The trip was the Obama family's first trip home in more than a year, the Tribune reported.
The decision to honor the holiday near Chicago instead of Arlington upset several veterans groups who said it was disrespectful for the commander in chief who deployed troops into an escalating war in Afghanistan, the Tribune said. But Fox News reported earlier only one modern president, Bill Clinton, had attended the Arlington ceremony every year of his presidency.
CHICAGO, (UPI) -- President Barack Obama canceled a Memorial Day speech near Chicago Monday, instead shepherding the gathered crowd out of a dangerous thunderstorm.
Obama's only scheduled public event Monday was paying respects at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood, Ill., instead of Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
But when a violent downpour caused participants to seek shelter, Obama spoke to the crowd from under an umbrella.
"Excuse me, everybody listen up. We are a little bit concerned about lightning," the president told the crowd. "This may not be safe. I know that all of you are here to commemorate the fallen. ... What we'd like to do is if possible have people move back to their cars and if this passes in the next 15 to 20 minutes I'll stick around."
Obama said he hoped the ceremony could resume later, "but we don't want to endanger anyone, particularly the children, in the audience. A little bit of rain doesn't hurt anybody but we don't want anybody struck by lightning."
The president later canceled his speech and instead spent time with fallen service members' families gathered in buses.
Obama, appearing a bit tired, returned to Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington about 7:30 p.m. and finally delivered his remarks prepared for the earlier event to about 150-200 service members gathered at the base's "tactical fitness center." The more enthusiastic members of the small crowd cheered the president while more reserved service members in the back listened quietly.
After speaking for a few minutes, Obama shook some hands and posed for photos before heading out on the presidential helicopter, Marine One.
Obama thanked the troops for their service and expressed the nation's gratitude for their willingness to put their lives on the line.
"Some of you have come from overseas deployments, some of you are about to go," Obama said. "Let us make sure that all of us are worthy of your sacrifice and of the sacrifices who have fallen.
"Let us go forward as they do, with the confidence and the resolve, the resilience and the unity that's always defined us as a people, and shaped us as a nation and made America a beacon of hope to the world."
Earlier during the three-day weekend, at least three small airplanes violated restricted air space over Obama's Chicago home, officials said.
The air space was declared a temporary restricted flight area because the first family was in Chicago for the holiday weekend.
The Chicago Tribune said it was not clear if the pilots of the planes were aware of the flight restrictions or if they would be charged with any wrongdoing.
The trip was the Obama family's first trip home in more than a year, the Tribune reported.
The decision to honor the holiday near Chicago instead of Arlington upset several veterans groups who said it was disrespectful for the commander in chief who deployed troops into an escalating war in Afghanistan, the Tribune said. But Fox News reported earlier only one modern president, Bill Clinton, had attended the Arlington ceremony every year of his presidency.
