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First lady Michelle Obama speaks Tuesday at a White House event to raise support for families of troops serving overseas.
WASHINGTON — The White House Tuesday announced an initiative to rally private sector and public support for military families, with NASCAR, Major League Baseball and Wal-Mart already on board.
“Unlike our troops, military families don’t wear uniforms, so we don’t always see them,” first lady Michelle Obama said.
Speaking in the East Room of the White House in front of an audience of politicians, dignitaries, military personnel and their families, the first lady said troops deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere should be able to know their families back home are taken care of.
Obama and Jill Biden, wife of the vice president, are leading the initiative, called Joining Forces. The Center for a New American Security, founded by Michele Flourney, who now is a Defense Department undersecretary, will direct the project with the help of retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the former Afghanistan commander fired by President Barack Obama for critical comments made to a Rolling Stone reporter, and Patty Shinseki, the wife of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki.
The initiative seeks public and private institutions to commit to helping military families and already has lined up help ranging from Tom Hanks to Wal-Mart, Obama said.
“This is a challenge to every segment of society,” she said.
Several businesses and nonprofits have agreed to provide assistance for military families moving to a new area, find jobs for military spouses, help with tax returns and a host of other activities, the first lady said.
President Barack Obama said he’d signed a directive to make support for military families a priority throughout the federal government.
“The United State of America is strongest, and we are at our best, when we remember our responsibilities to each other,” he said.
Mrs. Biden, an educator, also announced that the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education and the Military Child Education Coalition will work together to provide training to future teachers about the needs of schoolchildren who have one or both parents deployed overseas.
“In our travels, Michelle and I have seen many teachers who are making a real difference for the military children in their classrooms,” she said, giving examples such as holding parent-teacher conferences over Skype so deployed parents can participate.
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Jill Biden, wife of the vice president, says there are many ways both companies and private individuals can support military families. Her son, Beau, served a tour of duty in Iraq.
Biden and her husband are no strangers to the strain put on families of those deployed overseas. Their son, Beau, served a tour of duty in Iraq.
“We only have one truly sacred obligation,” said Vice President Joe Biden. “And that is to prepare those who we send to war with all that they need; and to take care of those who return from war and their families with all they deserve.”
Almost every county in America has sent someone to Iraq or Afghanistan, Mrs. Obama said.
“We want America to realize that in a way, every community is a military community,” she said. “Everyone can do something.”
The first lady said neighbors shouldn’t underestimate the help they can provide, from mowing the lawn and shoveling snow to taking care of children while military spouses are at work.
President Barack Obama said that whenever he goes to visit the troops, the most common thing he is told is to take care of the families back home.
“The strength and the readiness of America’s military depends on the strength and readiness of our military families,” Obama said.
Brian Jodice, spokesman for Military Families United, an organization supporting the families of those deployed overseas, said in a telephone interview that businesses can do a lot to help military families by making finding employment easier.
“There’s a lot of stress and a lot of anxiety when you have a loved one deployed, and hopefully job searching doesn’t have to be one of them,” he said.
Jodice, whose brother and father are in the Air Force, said Military Families United supports the Joining Forces campaign, and added that individuals need to remember how much they can help.
“It means a lot when someone says ‘Thank you for your service’ or ‘Thank you for your loved one’s service,’” he said. “It only takes a second to do it.”
The first lady and Mrs. Biden are starting a national tour to visit military families and the organizations helping to support them.
“I think Jill’s going to drive,” Mrs. Obama joked.
More information on the White House initiative can be found at www.joiningforces.gov.