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On Thursday, our favorite FLOTUS Michelle Obama, got emotional as she accepted the Tom Hanks Caregiver Champion award for the compassion she has shown towards wounded soldiers.
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Obama attended the Elizabeth Dole Foundation’s Hidden Heroes gala in Washington D.C. and shared during her speech the eye-opening difficulties that members of military vets endure, PEOPLE reports.
She learned a lot about their issues during her husband Barack Obama’s two-term presidency.
“You all changed me forever,” she said. “You have changed the way I see service, you’ve changed the way I see war, you’ve changed the way I see this entire country. Whether we simply talk about the values we like to pride ourselves on, values like duty and honor and patriotism, or if we actually live them out.”
“I was like most Americans, sadly, I had absolutely no idea what the life of a military family member was like,” Obama admitted.
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“I had no meaningful connection to the military community at all, even though my father had served, that was before I was born. But that all changed back when my husband was first campaigning for president and I had the great fortune to be able to sit down with groups of military spouses. And, yeah, you better believe their stories blew me away.”
I’ve always been so inspired by the military caregivers who give so much to care for our nation’s wounded warriors. I’m thankful for the work that @dolefoundation does every day to celebrate and support our caregivers. I hope you’ll find a way to do the same in your community. pic.twitter.com/qpoIYINoNv
— Michelle Obama (@MichelleObama) October 24, 2019
She continued, “Not just the emotions of having your loved one in harm’s way but the difficulties of building a career as you’re being sent from base to base, the juggling of managing a household all alone, the underlying sense that no one outside the military community could really understand what you’re going through. And I pledged then and there that if my husband was elected, I’d do what I could to support these spouses.”
The Obamas brought military families to the White House for dinners and cookouts, and family fun.
The 55-year-old author also collaborated with former Vice President Joe Biden to form the Joining Forces initiative which benefited members of the military, vets and their families. Obama said her work to help soldiers was influenced by the work of Sen. Elizabeth Dole.
“A lot of times all I could do was simply be there to sit in silence with the wife of a young soldier or the father of an airman. We’d smile at each other as we’d watch wounded warriors children playing on the floor, doing their homework by their parents’ bedside. Maybe we’d hold hands and pray. A lot of times we’d just cry.”
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“I know that anything I’ve done on this issue pales in comparison to literally every single service member, every caregiver, every veteran, every military spouse and child I’ve ever met because I’m not really doing much compared to them. I’m giving speeches, but I’m not managing a household all alone while my loved one is serving overseas,” she said.
Hanks, 63, a prolific actor who the award was named after, admitted it was a little unsettling to have such a meaningful award named after him.
“This is a subject that does not go away with a victory party or a ‘thank you for your service,’ or you know, some applause during a baseball game. These folks deal with this every single day, and there’s millions of them that came about because of their voluntary service to the United States of America,” Hanks said.
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