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| Home Front: Politix |
| Bush Meets Local Families of Slain Soldiers |
| 2005-05-25 |
| Shortly after President Bush finished his talk about Social Security, he took the time to meet with the families of two area servicemen killed in Iraq. Lance Cpl. Brian Schramm, 22, of Greece, was hit by shrapnel in October; Spc. Matthew Koch, 23, of Henrietta, was killed by a bomb that detonated near his vehicle in March. Keith and Mary Ellen Schramm, Brian's parents, were sitting in the fourth row at Greece Athena when they and four family members were whisked into a nearby classroom for a private conversation with the president. "He introduced himself to us individually, and he offered us his condolences for our son and thanked us for his service," Schramm said. They shook hands, hugged and had their pictures taken with the president. The Schramms also got Bush to autograph a couple of books they took along, one a pictorial journal about the war in Iraq. "It was great that we got to meet him," Schramm said. "I'm very honored to have had the opportunity. It made our day." Koch's mother, Diane Worman of Henrietta, and her husband, James, and stepson John, sat with the Schramms during Bush's talk and also got to meet with the president one-on-one in a separate classroom. "We thought they were going to put us together (with the Schramms), but they put us in two rooms so we had his undivided attention," Worman said. Bush signed a book — his mother's memoirs — and presented her with a presidential coin. She talked about her son's dedication to the children in Iraq, and she showed him a flier with her son's picture on it and a charity (Help the Iraqi Children) started after his death. Bush looked at the flier and put it in his coat pocket. "He was definitely concerned when I got emotional and started to cry. His eyes welled up with tears," she said. "He makes you feel comfortable, makes you feel like a next-door neighbor. He said Matthew's death will not be in vain." |
| Posted by:Chuck Simmins |