In pre-dawn darkness, Obama salutes victims of war

President Obama witnessed the return to U.S. soil of the bodies of 18 Americans killed in Afghanistan, an experience he called "sobering." (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/associated Press)

In pre-dawn darkness, Obama salutes victims of war
By Michael Fletcher and Ann Gerhart
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 30, 2009

On Wednesday, President Obama started his day in the Oval Office as he always does, with intelligence and economic advisers alerting him to trouble spots and bits of improvement. He ended it 20 hours later, after a surprise trip to Dover Air Force Base, where he witnessed the return of 18 Americans killed this week in Afghanistan.

His day already had been crowded. By nightfall, the president had appeared in public five times. He honored a Senate pioneer, named an opponent to a panel, signed the defense bill, planted a tree and held a reception for a crowd jubilant over a new law. He made jokes, offered embraces, posed for photos, spoke firmly. He had dinner with his two girls, on the eve of their first Halloween in Washington. His wife was in New York at the first World Series game.

All the while, he knew the most sober and grim public duty of his new presidency awaited him after midnight.
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In pre-dawn darkness, Obama salutes victims of war