By The White House
South Lawn
3:54 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, everybody. (Applause.) Thank you. Welcome to the White House. Thank you, Rick, for your introduction and for your leadership at the VA. And I want to thank all of you for coming out today.
This is actually good — a little overcast to keep you guys not too hot. This is one of my favorite events of the year.
AUDIENCE MEMBER: I love you, Mr. President!
THE PRESIDENT: I love you back. (Laughter.)
We obviously meet at a time when our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Boston. Our hearts are with the families of the victims. And now we send our support and encouragement to people who never expected that they’d need it — the wounded civilians who are just beginning what will be, I’m sure for some of them, a long road to recovery.
It’s a road that the remarkable warriors and athletes here know all too well. And, as a consequence, they’re going to serve for all of the families as well as all Americans a continued inspiration.
We do this every spring, and as all of you know, it started in a bar — where a lot of good ideas start. (Laughter.) Chris Carney and some of his buddies, who are here today, were talking about what they could do to support our wounded warriors, and Chris came up with the idea of biking coast-to-coast to raise money and awareness.
Now, even he has admitted in hindsight, “It may have been the beer muscles talking.” But he followed through, and he started in Long Island, he ended in San Diego. Along the way, he inspired people all across the country. And since then, more than a thousand wounded warriors have joined soldier rides across America. This is the fourth time I’ve had the chance to welcome these rides here at the White House. And, as always, we’ve got Army. (Applause.) We’ve got Navy. (Applause.) We’ve got Air Force. (Applause.) And we’ve got some Marines in the house. (Applause.)
Together, with your outstanding families, you represent what’s best in America. When we needed patriots to defend our freedom, you have answered the call. You’ve risked everything for our country and for each other. And you’ve made sacrifices most of us can barely imagine.
So thanks to your courage and your resolve, we’ve been able to end one war; we’re beginning to wind down another. But for you, as is true for all of our wounded warriors, coming home doesn’t mean that the fight is over. In some ways, it’s just begun.
You think about folks like Sergeant Sean Karpf. I first met Sean last June at Walter Reed — he had just lost his left leg to an IED in Afghanistan, he knew that there was a long
From: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/04/17/remarks-president-welcoming-wounded-warrior-projects-soldier-ride
