Former President George W. Bush and family to receive 2011 Reflections of Hope Award

This article from the Oklahoman reminds us how even after the tragedy of 9/11, we had a President who was not afraid to stand up and be counted. 

"“I hear you, the rest of the world hears you,

and the people who knocked down these buildings

are going to hear from all of us soon,”  Pres Bush

Comments from Eric Draper, White House Photographer about this photo he took that day:

"I remember standing at the site which still smoldered from the terrorist attack three days earlier. President Bush had just finished touring Ground Zero and embracing and talking with hundreds of firefighters. As the White House Photographer, I focused on capturing the strong emotion there. I had to press my way through the crowd to stay with the President, who was being guided to a spot to speak. I was close enough to the President to touch his legs if I tried, so I had to use my widest camera lens. When he said, “I can hear you,” I knew it was going to be a powerful, historic moment. I watched my President lead the country through its shock and grief."

It is no wonder with parents like George W. and Laura Bush that their two daughters are involved in giving back just like their parents.  The media had a lot to say about these two daughters who were college students but today they have grown into two young women who are making their parents very proud.  This award couldn't be given to a finer family than the Bush Family. 

My youngest daughter and I were in the audience on February 19th, 2001when President Bush came to Oklahoma City to dedicate the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial Museum.  We have toured it several times since as family has come to Oklahoma to visit.  The reaction you get from this Memorial and Musem brings tears to your eyes when you see each of the cubicles dedicated to a person who lost their life that horrible day on April 19th, 1995.  Right before you enter the room, you see how the explosion blew in the wall of the Journal Record building which houses the Museum across from the National Memorial.  All the debris from the bomb was left in place. 

President Bush that day talked about how one of the agents who had been with his Dad was lost in the bombing and how hard it was to be in that room with the cubicles and see the pictures and the items their families had placed with the pictures.  Remember sitting there thinking, we elected the right man to be President -- no doubt about it. 

Little did we realize that in less than seven months on September 11th, 2001, terrorists would strike America killing over 3,000 people in strikes in New York City at the World Trade Center, at our Pentagon, and in the skies over Pennsylvania.  Those were horrible days but when the President spoke at the Memorial Service in DC, you knew he was the right man at this point of time in the history of our country.  He had strong support from his family especially his wife which he needed as he went in several hours from President to to a wartime President on that fateful day. 

Finished reading his book, 'Decision Points' several weeks ago -- best book of this type I have ever read.  Have read plenty of books over the years about the people who make the decision that affect all of us, but President Bush's book was different -- didn't want to put it down even though I knew the outcome.  You feel you are right there as the talks about the events of his Presidency and his life. He truly was the face of 9/11 as President, Commander in Chief, and Compassionate Leader to console those who lost so much that day. 

When you read what Barbara and Jenna Bush have accomplished since graduating college, it makes you feel really good as they represent so many college graduates of their generation who are giving back in all fields starting with education.  The teachers and professors of today are some of our brightest and best who have entered the field of education as their choice when they could have gone in any field.  They understand that the children of today are the future of America. 

Truly believe our Nation will be in good hands in the years to come as these young people of today become our leaders of tomorrow.  Look at our military today and you can see the young leaders are all about serving this Country and take their oaths serious to defend the United States. 
This article detaling the award made my day as it honors a family who all of us owe a great amount of debt for the eight years of service as President and First Lady who also brought humility and class to the White House. 
Former President George W. Bush and family to receive 2011 Reflections of Hope Award

Members of the Bush family scheduled to accept the award in April

FROM STAFF REPORTS Oklahoman 

Published: March 1, 2011

The Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum announced today that it will honor President and Mrs. George W. Bush and family with the 2011 Reflections of Hope Award. Barbara Pierce Bush and Jenna Bush Hager, daughters of President George W. Bush, will be in Oklahoma City on April 20, 2011, to receive the award on behalf of their family.



2005 file photo - President George W. Bush attends the 55th Presidential
Inaugural Prayer service at Washington's National Cathedral, Friday,
Jan. 21, 2005 with first lady Laura Bush and daughters Barbara Bush,
second from left, and Jenna Bush, right. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

 From their years in the White House to efforts today, the Bush family has been focused on improving the welfare of others by tackling international humanitarian challenges, according to the National Memorial. While President Bush dedicated his efforts to spreading freedom and democracy, Laura Bush used her background in education to simultaneously advocate for women's rights in the Middle East. Their daughters continue this legacy through their work to enact meaningful change on a global scale.

Barbara Pierce Bush is the co-founder and president of the Global Health Corps, an organization that connects outstanding young leaders with organizations working on the front lines in order to promote global health equity in some of the world's most underserved areas. Under her leadership, the Global Health Corps has won widespread praise for its innovative work, including being named one of the 14 most innovative worldwide social startups by the Echoing Green Foundation.

Jenna Bush Hager is a teacher, a correspondent for NBC's TODAY Show and is the chair of UNICEF's Next Generation, an initiative dedicated to reducing the number of preventable childhood deaths around the world. Her experience traveling with UNICEF and witnessing the plight of the underprivileged inspired her to write “Ana's Story: A Journey of Hope,” based on the life of a 17-year-old single mother living with HIV and determined to shield her child from the abuse and neglect that riddled her own childhood.

“We are humbled to be selected for an award that holds such great personal meaning coming from an institution that is closely tied to overcoming terrorism,” said Bush and Hager in a statement. “In one of their first official visits outside of Washington after the inauguration, our parents came to Oklahoma City to dedicate the opening of the Museum and all of the hope it inspires. Little did we know that in a few months, we would face terror again on American soil. Since that time, the Memorial & Museum has evolved not only as a powerful healer of a community, but as a national role model. Its example motivates us even more to pursue professions that can make a difference in people's lives.”

The Reflections of Hope Award honors a living person or active organization whose conduct exemplifies in an extraordinary fashion two core beliefs of the Oklahoma City National Memorial Foundation: that hope can survive and blossom despite the tragedy and chaos of political violence and that, even in environments marred by such violence, peaceful approaches provide the best answers to human problems.

“Barbara Pierce Bush and Jenna Bush Hager and the myriad projects they have undertaken in their young careers, including the Global Health Corps and UNICEF's Next Generation, exemplify the core mission of this award and the Memorial & Museum,” said John Richels, Trustee Chairman, Oklahoma City National Memorial Foundation. “As we prepare a new generation of leaders, we think it is appropriate that the Bush daughters be here to represent the leadership shown by their parents and in their own work in some of our country's darkest days and help us continue to educate about the senselessness of terrorism and violence.”

The Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum will honor the Bush Family, represented by Barbara Pierce Bush and Jenna Bush Hager, at a reception and dinner on April 20, 2011, a day after the nation marks the 16th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. The reception and dinner will be at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.



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