State House
Annapolis, Maryland
1:55 P.M. EDT
MRS. OBAMA: Thank you. (Applause.) Thank you so much. Good afternoon. It is truly a pleasure to be here in Maryland today.
But before we get started, I want to take a moment to say that our thoughts and prayers are with everyone in Boston. My husband continues to monitor the situation, and he has directed the full resources of the federal government to assist state and local authorities as they investigate this horrific act.
And what happened on Monday was a reminder that in times of crisis, here in America we respond with courage, and grit, and selflessness. That’s exactly what we saw from the people of Boston, and from all those who rushed to aid the victims, especially the police officers and firefighters, the first responders, and our men and women in uniform.
And that is the spirit of Boston, but it is also the spirit of this country. And in many ways, that’s the spirit of service and sacrifice that we are here to honor today.
So I want to thank Governor O’Malley for hosting us, but also for his tremendous leadership for the state of Maryland and for all of his efforts on behalf of our troops, veterans, and military families.
I also want to thank Lieutenant Governor Brown; the Secretary of the Navy, Secretary Mabus; and all of the servicemembers from Fort Meade and the United States Naval Academy who are here with us today.
And I’d like to recognize all of the Maryland state legislators: Attorney General Gansler, Mayor Cohen, the representatives we have here from veterans service organizations and the University of Maryland, and to all of the military family members who are joining us today. Welcome, and thank you for being here.
And, finally, I want to thank Senior Chief Hite and his wonderful family who I got to meet — Mom and Dad are here, and his handsome son, who I will embarrass — (laughter) — but we are proud of you all. But I want to thank you all for your service to this country, because the truth is, is that every family member serves, and every time I meet a servicemember, a veteran, I don’t just thank him or her, I think children and parents and grandparents and brothers and sisters, because everyone in some way is part of that service. And thank you for sharing your story with us today.
Two years ago, Jill Biden and I launched Joining Forces in large part because we’d heard too many stories like that of Senior Chief Hite’s. We had heard the stories of military spouses like Janelle Gray, whose husband serves in the Air Force at Fort Meade.
Janelle was a professional counselor for seven years in Minnesota and North Dakota. But when she and her husband were transferred here to Maryland, she found out that she’d either have to wait three