Michelle Obama meets with military spouses

Michelle Obama meets with military spouses

By Karen Jowers - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Aug 6, 2008 18:33:51 EDT

NORFOLK, Va. — When Michelle Obama, wife of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, held a roundtable with military spouses and retirees here on Wednesday, she got an earful — and said that if her husband is elected, he has a plan to help them.

Six military spouses and three retired officers participated in the roundtable with Obama on the campus of Old Dominion University here, with about 200 invited retirees, veterans and spouses in the audience. Most were invited because they were volunteers with the Obama campaign, or were invited by someone in the Obama campaign, said campaign officials and some of the attendees interviewed by Military Times.

Editor’s note: Military Times has a standing interview request with Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain of Arizona. To read a transcript from an earlier roundtable meeting between McCain and Military Times reporters and editors held last October, visit http://www.militarytimes.com/mccaininterview

The issues that members of the roundtable brought up spoke to the pressures that military families face, especially in wartime.

An Air Force wife said she had to give up her job when her husband deployed because she couldn’t find child care.

A Marine wife, a former executive, said she home-schools her children because she couldn’t find a public or private school that could meet her children’s needs.

A Navy wife described the pressures of taking care of her husband’s father, who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, while also caring for her infant and her teenager — all while her husband was deployed.

This was the third roundtable Michelle Obama has held this year with military family members, following sessions at Fort Bragg, N.C., and Fort Campbell, Ky.
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