Troops Returning from Iraq and Afghanistan Get a Little Surprise at Dallas/Ft. Worth Airport
**Written by Doug Powers
From the USO Dallas/Ft. Worth Facebook page:
This morning at DFW Airport, George and Laura Bush greeted 150 (very surprised) troops as they arrived home from Iraq and Afghanistan. Their expressions were so priceless!
Some pictures:
A few more photos (larger size) are here.
Welcome home to our troops and thanks to George and Laura Bush for greeting them!
**Written by Doug Powers
Twitter @ThePowersThatBe
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Great photos of a great man. Thanks.
Soooooooo Kool.
“Miss me yet?”
They still have class.
Yea, I miss most of him.
George Bush made me fee like the country was protected from enemies foreign and domestic.
Barack Obama makes me wonder if he wants the downfall of America.
Reminds me of a time when our President loved his country and those that served under him.
Let’s fix that in 2012!
As much as I wouldn’t want to see any of the Bushes president again, once you get past the flawed politics, Bush was a good man. I wish we could say that about all of our presidents. Heck, I wish we could say that about more than just a few of our politicians.
And I blame Bush for making what would have been an otherwise good day for these troops into a very special day they will never forget. There will be pictures hanging on the walls about today for generations.
On August 10th, 2010 at 5:34 am, les said:
Hey les,
The current First Lady met with Marxists and Islamists in Spain. It’s the very reason she went there.
Meanwhile, the former First Lady is in the U.S.A., meeting troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
A majority of Americans would rather have George W. and Laura represent us than Barry and Michelle.
The Bushes love this country.
The Obamas want to bring this country to its knees.
God Bless George W. and Laura Bush!
Yup. This is a couple with class and this is a man I would proudly call my president. Thanks for posting these photos.
President Bush loves this country and always held the military in deep respect. Odumbo rather play b-ball–what a disgrace to the Office of the President.
I can only imagine how many Americans (and politicians) are looking at these pictures and grasping the disturbing contrast with the current administration. How can it not have a lasting, corrosive effect for Democrats into the November elections?
For Obama, there is no fixing this missed opportunity. Were he to follow up with his own Kodak moment, the cynicism would drip right out of the pictures. The Bush years were chock full of such moments and many were never properly reported. For Obama, it would come off badly no matter how he did it.
This is the Bush America misses, not the one that those memoirs will try to rehabilitate later.
Thank you George and Laura…but most of all thank you to the American warriors. My family and I appreciate what you do.
“The older I get the less I listen to what people say and the more I look at what they do.”
— Andrew Carnegie
In the Dope they Hope?
In 1967/8 LBJ visited Viet Nam-all kinds of Brass Hats were shocked by the cold reception he received from the troops-
Phil, in addition to your observations, have we ever seen this man show one bit of empathy?
He is a man without any apparent feelings towards anyone else; deliberate, cold, and calculating.
This is the love and respect that a President should have for his troops, and the reverence and honor that the troops should have for their Commander in Chief.
I can tell you first hand it is not there with the current president, in either direction, except in a few cases. He will get respect that is due his office, but he has no feelings for us.
Reagan, Bush 41 and Bush 43 had the troops’ backs. We honored them and carried out our orders with all we had. They honored us and protected us as only a President with military experience and a President who loved America could. This president – not so much. No, not at all.
This president – if its not a photo op, he’s not there. I know for a fact that Bush 43 went if it was right, and sent cameras away. Class is class. BHO doesn’t have it and can’t buy it. And FLOTUS’s “ghetto chic” fails to impress most Americans.
Out the door in 2013!!!
Troops have a built in BS meter that never fails to detect its presence.
Truly class acts!
Thanks George and Laura. I miss you, you truly loved America.
If Obama did that, he would need a teleprompter to tell him what to do.
Imagine if Big O and Mighty Mo had even half the class as the Bush’s.
BWAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Never happen. Once a no class, two bit thug, always a no class, two bit thug.
O’s too busy campaigning w/ Joy Behar.
MO’s perfecting her Marie Antoinette impersonation.
W. and Laura are the Real Deal!
The Bushes love this country.
The Obamas want to bring this country to its knees.
(I wrote that post several weeks before the election, in September 2008, and Obama’s time in office has only confirmed what I thought then).
Well you for sure knew it wasn’t going to be Obama! All the love he has for the military (sarcasm).
I thought it was going to be you Michelle till I saw the arm.
Q: Why are the ground-pounders flying into DFW?
Killeen has its own airport, as does El Paso.
Maybe it isn’t a military charter.
Bush owned it when he went to Iraq for the first Thanksgiving.
Obama can’t even bring himself to visit the Boy Scouts.
I had to dig a little to see where les nessman appeared, RedPill, but I’m glad you pointed this one out.
You see, with thunderbutt bein’ from chi-town, mr. nessman really can’t make that particular assertion with any degree of certainty.
You guys must be kidding with your positive compliments of Bush. This guy was an absolute disaster. The only good this fool did was put Roberts and Alito on the court, and he almost didn’t do that. Let’s hope we have no more Bushes or Texans in the White House.
Probably was NG’s or ER’s
On August 12th, 2010 at 12:06 am, Hangfire said:
Hangfire, American Airlines is one of the Contract carriers for the DoD. Killeen and El Paso are commuter airports. Whereas DFW is a hub. For troops on Mid-Term leave or who are not returning with a unit (and sometimes even if they are)it’s easier to get to other parts of the US (like someone’s hometown) through DFW than it is from Killeen or El Paso. Also, not everyone is stationed at Ft. Hood or Ft. Bliss. Some of us were based in much nicer places (e.g., Ft. Campbell or Ft. Bragg).
My own $.02, President George W. and Mrs. Bush weren’t just a class act, they truly care. I’ve seen the former Commander-in-Chief cry when comforting the family of a Soldier who lost his life in the service to his country. He made an effort to, and in most cases did manage to personally give his condolences to those who died in the current war. When Maj. Hasan (the assassin) Nidal went postal on Ft. Hood, he and Mrs. Bush were there the very next morning driving from their home to Ft. Hood providing comfort to the survivors. Not, photo-ops mind you, real human empathy and help. They arranged for some MWR equipment and expedited other services for the folks in the unit hit by the jihadi assassin.
I may disagree with some of the things he did. But he is a good man.
If Bush was an “absolute disaster”, how would you describe Obama?
At least Bush was a real, Constitutionally legal, Commander-in-Chief, and the military did not detest him, as they do the current usurper in the White House.
***
HI SSNARK–#29. Good comment–President Bush 43 made some mistakes. I didn’t like his failure to engage his detractors–he ignored them instead. And I didn’t like his failure to veto big spending in the last 2 years of his second term–President Reagan would have vetoed earmark larded up bills.
***
But he really loves his country. And like many of us–he wore the uniform and served in our military. It incensed me to hear losers calling him dumb. Anyone who can fly a modern fighter plane is smarter than the average bear.
***
And the worst slur of all was against his father–the first President Bush 41 was called a wimp by those who never served. And this after having two planes shot out from under him in WW2 combat–and losing two more to mechanical problems.
***
John Bibb
***
On August 12th, 2010 at 1:17 am, 11B said:
You’re entitled to your opinion no matter how wrong you are.
This was one of the very few Presidents I served under who when he talked to a Soldier, listened to what he said. I don’t mean nodded his head and said trite or banal things. He actually listened, you could see it in his posture, his eyes, and in his responses. This is a man who cared. Assuming you actually were an 11B, you know how rare that is in a leader. You also know that no matter how you may disagree with a man who does listen to you, you respect him. I take it from your comment that you’d never met our President (George W. Bush) and so might not know how exceptional he was save to a cynical and egoistical press and his many similarly cynical and egoistical detractors. In that I’m sorry, you missed an opportunity to meet someone who is like only a very select few.
I may agree with you about future Bush family members in the Presidency, but take some exception at your comment on Texans.
Or perhaps you’re referring to Governor Perry’s thoughts on our secession from what may soon become a “failed State”.
Obama wouldn’t do that. He doesn’t have the time. With either planning a vacation, being on one, or coming home from one, there isn’t much time for anything else.
The treatment the Boy Scouts received compared with this, someone going out of their way for no gain to greet the troops, is appallingly striking.
James Greenidge
Queens NY
That was really cool. Welcome home, troops!
God Bless, George W. Bush!
You think GWB was a disaster????
You better open your ignorant eyes and take off your pinko tinted glasses. Then take a gander at the earthquake-tsunami-hurricane that O’Bama, and his gang of his communist, islamic liberal-progressives and democrats are cooking up for us!! There is no word strong enough to describe the horror these horses’ rears are brewing!!!
Even today, people just can’t stop bashing Vietnam Vets. What the hell does Vietnam have to do with GWB greeting our young GI’s as they return home?!?
Brings back old times, before America went with stupid … Boy do those styrofoam temples look really dumb in the rear view mirror.
So can presidents do this legally under Obozo? You sure the Democrats haven’t passed a law forbidding this act of aggression against the one?
I wonder did Obozo go back and apologize to the troops?
On August 12th, 2010 at 12:59 am, SHoward said:
Exactly.
Also, did you know that Barry had an “adopted” older sister in Indonesia? More than likely, she was actually a family servant, but she died suddenly after talking with reporters…
Thanks President Bush…you’d certainly not see the current anti-American in the white house do this…
Support our troops via the USO (they have one in Dallas!
Donate online here!
Or mail checks to:
USO DFW
PO Box 613306
DFW Airport, TX 75261
President Bush, I didn’t agree with everything you did. You started this “bailout” trend and you pushed for amnesty.
But, never the less, you were always a class act. You acted out of concern for the country. And, most of all, you never wavered in your love for the troops.
11B said:
Another Libtard plant I see — From what Libtard talking point screed did you mouth off here? I do believe you are one of those Socialist Democrats and being of that ilk I can only surmise that you are a lemming. A little pack rodent that can only exist with other rodents and do nothing but follow. Are you a lemming?
and if you’re stuck in DFW for a while say thanks to the troops at the USO…
The USO is located in Terminal B, at Gate 15 (on the secure side).
Being retired military, I stop by when I fly through DFW and say thanks to both the volunteers and troops!!
tre said:
Something happened just prior to the TARP thing – from what I understand a, and bare with me on the figure,something like 700 or 800 Billion Dollars was transfered out of our economy before the SEC? put a stop to it. To this day I have never heard of anyone investigating this.
I’m a 4th generation Texan.
You can BITE ME!!!!!
Class act, all the way.
Let’s compare and contrast shall we.
The Bushes surprise troops by showing up in DFW (which I must say as a former soldier who traveled through DFW on my way home from Iraq I was greeted by some really great Americans and I hear the USO down there has an overflow of volunteers for this greeting every day). He did this cause he wanted to without the fan fare and all.
Now if it had been Obama, there would have been a pres release prior to him going to DFW to announce that he would be at DFW for this purpose so as the media could show up and document the event. I am sure TOTUS would have been there too all primed and ready for Obama to give yet another speech for of I’s and me’s to the troops who would have sat their respectfully waiting for it to end so they can get on their way to their families.
Sorry about that everyone.
I do try to be polite, but a man has his limits.
I’m with you on the “no more Bushes,” but the rest was uncalled for.
Texas has 24,782,302 people (2009 estimate) and YOU want to label all of us because of your dislike for one man.
SHAME ON YOU, 11B.
Count me as one more person that despised a lot of the Bush policies but can also see he is a sincerely decent human being. Much better than the current occupant of the White House.
It should also be noted that last week when Obama was bashing Bush b name, Bush was in Haiti doing releif work at Obama’s request. Bush said nothing, just went about his work.
Another contrast between a man and a weasel.
Ditto.
forget about the mental masturbation of the current prez or wifey doing this–imagine Clinton doing it. Can’t?
then, how about Gore or Kerry? I mean, didn’t Bush steal the election from Gore?
Color me stupid but wasn’t the second term of W’s presidency controlled by a dumbocrat congress? So in essence, isn’t it dishonest to call everything “Bush’s policies. No president is all bad or all good. But George W. Bush shows that he is more than a class act. Obowmao shows himself every day as a coward, anti-American and an elitist who cares nothing for the lives that he is destroying on a daily basis.
Bush went to meet the troops. Obama went to get his butt kissed by Joy Behar.
Ugggg! MY EYES!!!
Journolister response: But, but…we’ll soon have photos of Obama greeting Ahmadinijead and he’ll be smiling too!
Yes, Bush has class and respects our troops. That is nothing new. I do think this really shames the current president.
But unfortunately, it was Bush and his unpopularity that led directly to Obama and Democrat majorities.
If only Bush had cut spending, didn’t push for amnesty, fought for his beliefs in the media, etc.
No.
Countless after-action recounts and investigations by the liberal media showed no such thing.
I often disagreed with Bush’s policies but always believed he was a genuinely good man trying to do his best for the country. That’s still true. Thank God we have folks like that.
I’m not a supporter of many of the Bush policies, however, I am a firm believer in the Man’s sincerity, character, and love of country. Mr. and Mrs. Bush offer stark contrast to the Obamas. One couple love this country, the other is proud of this great nation for only the first time. George and Laura are class acts, the Obamas are not. The Bushs are proud Americans, the Obamas are not.
Hulka–I was being sarcastic, of course. Just reiterating the ad nauseum screaming points after the 2000 election.
If Gore was/is so wonderful, why isn’t he standing in random airports greeting the troops as they return home?
I so miss George and Laura Bush. I could sleep nights knowing he was standing guard. And, the lovely Laura never spoke out of turn or embarrassed the country by her behavior. This was a wonderful homecoming for these soldiers, but then, DFW has a great program for welcoming home the troops. God bless Texas! It’s strength is it’s people.
It’s clear the only taste our current occupants in the WH have is in their mouth, and one of them chows down more than the other. Ugh. Everything they do is off..it’s like they are reading tabloid mags and trying to emulate the jet-setters of the world but obviously don’t know how. I cringe everytime one of them gets before a camera.
Welcome home troops!
In other news, the price of arrugula has hit all-time highs.
Bravo to President and First Lady Bush – what better way to model true altruism, honor, duty and a greater sense of respect and responsibility! The current WH should view this as “teachable moment.”
Actually, it was the Lamestream media’s constant criticizing and vilifying of Bush that led to his negative polls and the election of Duh Won.
Bush fell apart at the end on his last year in office, trying to placate the libs, but he was a target from day one of his presidency. Unfairly targeted by the liberal media.
Obama couldn’t make it, got lost on the way to the airport.
It was Bush’s fault.
I for one DO miss Bush, even though he was not my type of republican. He is sooo much better than the hate america first communist and his partner in crime wife, that it is hard to believe any american doesn’t miss Bush yet.
Spot on, Tiger! I believe that President Bush made mistakes as well, but so much of the “Bush Syndrome” was created by the state-run media. They seemed to hate this honorable man, his family, and the values that he (and many of us) espoused. The Journo-list conspiracy (not a theory) confirms an active attempt to influence American policies – certainly at the expense of journalistic standards. Traditional media (mainstream media) is dead and it is completely self-inflicted!
Thank you President Bush and your lovely lady Laura for greeting the returning military. The smiles on their faces was priceles. This is what class is, not what we now have in the WH!
L
That, and the ’08 economic downturn the media used to scare people into the polls for the Mighty “O.”
It was the most perverse case of “push” polling ever witnessed.
He’s standing around in smaller airports’ mini-marts buying out the Cheetos while the Gulpstream is being refueled.
thanks, AG–that clears up a lot.
That also explains why at his last urologist’s appointment, he questioned the orange color of his ‘member’.
*This is the part I miss about W; He loves our beloved country and, of course, all the fine men and women in service; Kudos to him and Laura.
Hopefully, America does the right thing in 2012. My wife doesn’t want Obummer’s name on her AF Retirement Certificate. And she can’t stay past 2015.
Bush let the Chinese humiliate us in 2001 with the EP-3 on Hainan Island. He gave us No Child Left Behind, He gave us the Prescription Drug Benefit, He presided over the continual de-industrialization of the USA, he came within a heartbeat of legalizing 20 million plus illegals, and started a war in Iraq that has turned out to be a disaster essentially leaving Iran as the new power player in the ME.
Did he use his republican congressional advantage to remove the Department of Education? Did he try to secure our border? Did he try to reverse the effects of the 1965 immigration act? Outside of a few tax cuts, which were not augmented with spending cuts, and the SC positions, he was not a very good conservative.
It is because of Bush that we have Obama. Anytime a nation fights a war there is an ENORMOUS risk that that nation will undergo social upheaval unless the war is quick, clean and decisive. Look at the social ills we are dealing with because of the Vietnam era. That war unleashed the social changes that have probably caused the US to be in the decline it is in today because it allowed leftists to galvanize the mainstream public who were disenchanted with that war. Obama is just another cost of the war in Iraq.
NO, I am referring to the fact that Texas has supplied us with two of the biggest spending guys who gladly expanded the federal government and got us involved in indecisive wars that paved the way for all sorts of ill social change at home. After Lyndon Johnson and George Bush, I don’t want any more Texans in the White House.
– 11b
A war that SHOULD have been started far earlier; any of the hundreds of times they violated the cease-fire after Desert Storm wrapped up for instance.
Bush also took the blame for lack of success prior to the surge, and then allowed for the surge to turn what you call a disaster, into a success. What Obama has done with that success since he has taken office? Not much. . .which is why it’s only now tilting back towards disaster.
As for the rest, you can weigh the embarrassment of Hainan (I didn’t even remember that, even though I was in Taiwan at the time, until you mentioned it)/No Child Left Behind/etc. etc. against bowing to foreign potentates, alienating Great Britain, the horrendous health care reform bill, failure to even ADDRESS immigration reform, etc. etc.
I liked Bush in his first term, and even for part of his 2nd (until the bailouts). . .and weighing him against Obama, there’s no doubt in my mind that we’d be better off now if Bush were still in office.
President and Laura Bush always showed a love of our troops during his eight years. I would have been honored to shake his hand. He didn’t do everything right and neither did the Republicans but, for all his faults, he is a patriot and a far sight better than Obeyme.
It is amazing that the entire planet has not burned to a cinder, because George W. Bush was President of the United States.
And I thought all along that it was John McCain.
11B, I think you and Pasadena Phil need to get together and determine who is the source of all bad things in this world. Is it George Bush or John McCain? I need to know.
But then you may decide they took their instructions from Sarah Palin.
Look, let’s not rewrite history. Let’s be honest.
The LSM (lamestream media) is no longer strong enough to do it on their own. It was the LSM, a lackluster McCain, and the failings of Bush that led to Obama.
If we had had 8 years of a principled conservative, Obama and the Democrats wouldn’t currently own everything. Even George H W Bush got elected after 8 years of Reagan.
George W Bush revved up the Democrats, and depressed the conservatives. Bush played an integral part in getting Obama elected, just as Obama will be the reason we have a Republican president in 2013.
Ahhhhhhhhh you might want to take a little stroll back in time and see how the LSM participated in enabling McCain’s nomination and their collusion in absolutely torpedoing Hillary Clinton during her bid.
Without the LSM, Obama would not even have come within 200 miles of Hillary.
There is no magic bullet here, but their role was crucial in setting the stage for Obama to stroll to victory.
It’s amazing that the US still has territorial control over Arizona because George W. Bush was President of the United States.
Your correct, the world was completely dormant between 1986 and 2000.
One of the things I find totally amazing is so many posters single out one person.
Obama, Bush etc. etc. could have accomplished nothing without a majority of 535 elected representatives that we elected and who control the purse strings.
Bush went into Iraq with the APPROVAL of Congress. The Congress, including the beloved JT Hayworth passed the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit.
Congress could increase funding for border security by 50 fold tomorrow and weather the veto.
My Dimocrat rep was there before Bush was. He’s still there. Is that Bush’s fault? I think not. That’s my monkey.
No, it wasn’t dormant, but post 2000 was the only time in recent memory where we had a republican in the WH along with a republican controlled congress. Not only did Bush not use this to attempt to correct the situation by reversing the disastrous provisions of 1965 and the lottery of 1990, but he actively went against the will of his party. Fortunately, the real conservatives went ballistic enough to prevent him from catastrophically altering this nation. However, we probably will never have another chance like that again, and amnesty or some form of it is probably in our future.
I do agree that Bush wasn’t as conservative as he said he was.
“Landslide Lyndon” was a corrupt creep.
However, I’m still waiting for an apology on behalf of the >24,000,000 living Texans whose names are NOT Lyndon Baines Johnson or George Walker Bush.
There are a whole heck of a lot of conservatives and libertarians here in Texas.
That I believe is our job. And last chance? In the words of The Duke; “not hardly.”
Yes, that’s the way it works on paper. In reality, though, the President (or whoever plays the role) wields a tremendous amount of influence on his own. Sure Congress is complicit, but it doesn’t change the fact that a better person in the White House could have made a huge mountainous difference in the way things turned out.
That is because the members of Congress are more afraid of their political party and the President then they are of us. Especially our Congressman. When they start stray we need to get rid of them.
Let’s hope 2010 is the start of that.
Words cannot describe how cool this is. I just hope Mr and Mrs Bush continue to do this. Makes me proud that I serve when I see a former President continue to provide love and support for his troops.
I-err-ahhbama took TOTUS to an elementary school classroom, 6th grade was it? Complete in the photo with Secret Service man behind him ‘n TOTUS. I cannot imagine setting all of that up in a corridor of an airport. BUT, if he had to ad lib as he shook hands, he might have thanked a (obvious Army uniform wearer) “corpseman.” So … no. No spur-of-the-moment troop thanking.
Just look at W’s face and the troops’ faces … wonderful.