I need to start by introducing you to Medal Of Honor winner, Sergeant First Class Jared C. Monti. Jared lost his life in Afghanistan. According to the official website:
With complete disregard for his own safety, Staff Sergeant Monti twice attempted to move from behind the cover of the rocks into the face of relentless enemy fire to rescue his fallen comrade. Determined not to leave his Soldier, Staff Sergeant Monti made a third attempt to cross open terrain through intense enemy fire. On this final attempt, he was mortally wounded, sacrificing his own life in an effort to save his fellow Sohttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifldier. Staff Sergeant Monti's selfless acts of heroism inspired his patrol to fight off the larger enemy force
The president presented his parents with the Congressional Medal Of Honor, after giving this 14 minute speech on Jared.
It is a moving ceremony, one which I'm fairly certain that the parents will not forget.
Oh...
...but our president did...
While visiting Fort Dunn, the president said:
“First time I saw the 10th Mountain Division, you guys were in southern Iraq. When I went back to visit Afghanistan, you guys were the first ones there. I had the great honor of seeing some of you because a comrade of yours, Jared Monti, was the first person who I was able to award the Medal of Honor to who actually came back and wasn’t receiving it posthumously.”
This truly is the worst possible gaffe the president could have committed.
Now granted, he did call the parents to apologize. But this fits under the heading of "imagine if Bush said this...?"
Because if this were any other president, we'd still be talking about this today.
