President Bush, who met with relatives of fallen soldiers before Tuesday's Fort Bragg speech, was urged to stay the course in Iraq by a woman who gave him a bracelet honoring her late husband.
"I said: 'I know people are pushing you, but please don't pull the guys out of Iraq too soon,' " said Crystal Owen, whose husband, Staff Sgt. Mike Owen, was killed in Iraq last year.
"Don't let my husband -- and 1,700-plus other deaths -- be in vain," she added during a private meeting with Mr. Bush at the North Carolina base. "They were over there, fighting for a democratic nation, and I hope you'll keep our service members over there until the mission can be accomplished."
...Although not all family members agree with the president's policies in Iraq and Afghanistan, many reported being deeply moved by their sessions with him. These include Dave Bader, whose brother, Staff Sgt. Daniel Bader, was killed in Iraq.
"He was just a regular American who came to talk to us," he told the Denver Post after meeting with Mr. Bush at Fort Carson, Colo., in November, 2003. "I was touched by that."
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