There’s another viral email circulating. As with any viral email, the information it presents is exaggerated to support a certain political point of view.
Subject: FW: What a Class Act
Bush Asked to Leave Ft.HoodI sent my cousin in Fayetteville, N.C. (retired from Special Forces) that picture of Geo. W. visiting the wounded at Ft. Hood .. I got this reply:
What is even better is the fact George W. Bush heard about Fort Hood, got in his car without any escort, apparently they did not have time to react, and drove to Fort Hood. He was stopped at the gate and the guard could not believe who he had just stopped. Bush only ask for directions to the hospital then drove on. The gate guard called that “The president Is on Fort Hood and driving to the hospital.” The base went bananas looking for Obama. When they found it was Bush they immediately offered escort and Bush simply told them to shut up and let him visit the wounded and the dependents of the dead. He stayed at Fort Hood for over six hours and was finally asked to leave by a message from the White House. Obama flew in days later and held a “photo ” session in a gym and did not even go to the hospital. All this I picked up from two soldiers here who happened to be at Fort Hood when it happened.
Here’s the only mention I found of it from any news source (Fox News from Nov. 7th, 2 days after the incident):
Former President George W. Bush and his wife Laura secretly visited Fort Hood last night and spent “considerable time” consoling those who were wounded in Thursday’s shooting spree, Fox News has learned.
The Bushes entered and departed the sprawling military facility in secret, having told the base commander they did not want press coverage of their visit, a source told Fox News.
What President Bush did is to be commended, but it wasn’t some impulsive, “not having time to react” same day act as the email implies. And I highly doubt the Obama administration asked him to leave.
Here’s the obligatory Snopes entry on the email.
The claim that when President Obama visited Fort Hood he merely “held a photo session in a gym” is false. President Obama traveled to Fort Hood and spent four hours there on 10 November 2009, attending a memorial service for the victims of the shooting and meeting with the families of the dead and the wounded.
Once again, I ask that any email one receives that smears anyone, be they democrat, republican, or independent, please take the time and effort to verify the information in the message. We need accurate information, not lies designed to fool the gullible.