Email   Print   Share By Joy Pariante, Sentinel Leisure Editor

Facebook Digg Delicious July 1, 2010 | Leisure

Former first lady Laura Bush signs copies of her autobiography, “Spoken from the Heart” Sunday at Fort Hood’s Clear Creek Post Exchange during a signing tour for her new book, which was released in May. The book discusses Bush’s upbringing in Midland and her experiences in the White House while her husband served as president of the United States. Joy Pariante, Sentinel Leisure Editor

Hundreds of Soldiers, retirees, civilians and family members lined up at the Clear Creek Post Exchange Sunday to have copies of “Spoken from the Heart” signed by former first lady Laura Bush, who stopped at Fort Hood as part of her book-signing tour.

Former first lady Laura Bush visited the Clear Creek Post Exchange for a few hours Sunday to meet and greet Soldiers, retirees, civilians and family members while signing copies of her new autobiography, “Spoken from the Heart.”

Bush said she knew from the time she stepped into the White House with her husband, former President George W. Bush, she would be expected to someday publish an account of her time there. Serving as a wife and mother, she also took on the added roles as an ambassador for the United States and the spokesperson for a number of causes including literacy, education and women’s equality.

Bush also had the chance to describe her early life growing up in small town Midland, her life before serving as the first lady of the Lone Star State and, later, the United States.

Bush thought her autobiography would be best written in a very candid and open way.

“It gave me the chance to tell people what I think and what my life was like in a very personal way,” she said.

To make the reading experience more meaningful and personal, Bush didn’t avoid discussing any topics in her writing. She wrote about the car accident she caused in high school which killed a close friend, losing her father slowly to Alzheimer’s disease and how Sept. 11, 2001 and the subsequent Global War on Terrorism affected the country and those within the walls of the White House.

“I wanted to remind people what September 11th was like, so we can keep people thinking … of why it’s important for the U.S. and Americans to support our troops,” Bush said.

The deepest feelings Bush described in her book are what helps the public connect with her through her words. She said she frequently receives letters from people wanting to share their stories of losing a parent, or from those who had trouble conceiving like the Bushes did and those who caused or were affected by a motor vehicle accident.

Sergeant Patrick McCombs, with the 664th Ordnance Company, 4th Sustainment Brigade, 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), said he enjoyed reading the book because of Bush’s stories about her parents, which reminded him of experiences with his own parents growing up.

The Fort Hood book signing was an opportunity for Bush to get out and see some of the servicemembers and families who she and her husband dedicated many prayers, condolences and heartfelt thanks to over the past decade. Her father served during World War II in a unit that was instrumental in liberating a concentration camp, but it wasn’t until the Bush family was working side-by-side with military personnel every day and began sending troops to war that they really learned how much military members contribute to the American fabric.

Many members of their staff in Washington D.C., their doctors and those who worked on the naval base surrounding Camp David, became important fixtures in the Bushes’ lives.

“The military became part of our life every day, every single day,” she said. But the connection wasn’t just as a working relationship, it went much deeper.

As the commander in chief of America’s armed forces, President Bush was responsible for determining their missions and ensuring their well being.

“George did not want war. No president ever does,” the former first lady wrote in her autobiography when discussing the movement towards war in Iraq. “He knew how precious any child is, and every person sent to war is someone’s child, and often someone’s mother and father, too.”

The feeling that comes with sending Soldiers to war and the gravity of those choices were concepts that kept the president up into the wee hours of the night, just thinking, Bush wrote in the portion of her book that described the invasion of Afghanistan and, later, of Iraq.

Both she and her husband learned the names of servicemembers killed overseas, wrote letters to family members left behind and often invited the survivors to the White House, so the families would have a chance to remember their loved ones and talk about their loss. They also visited military hospitals to talk to wounded servicemembers and their families, much as they did at Fort Hood following the Nov. 5 shootings, even though Bush was no longer in office.

In addition to continuing visits to troops in hospitals, the Bush family also stays involved with military members and their families through charitable organizations, fund-raising events and, for the former first lady, base and post stops along her book tour. She said it gives her a chance to see the servicemembers who have volunteered to serve and continue to serve during a time of war and their family members who, she acknowledged, often bear the burden of difficulties and worrying during deployments.

But these continuous deployments are also serving to etch today’s servicemembers in history alongside their counterparts from every conflict in our nation’s history. Bush said today’s servicemembers are part of “a history of strong and very, very devoted military ... who chose to serve their country and (whose) patriotism is so strong they would make the choice to serve in harm’s way.”

Bush said she “wants our troops now to know they’re part of a history of liberators,” like her father and others who served during World War II. An example of this sharing of freedom that’s close to Bush’s heart is the progress made regarding women’s equality and rights in the Middle East. Without today’s servicemembers, these women couldn’t be educators, go to school or own businesses, she said.

While her husband was in office, Bush had one of the highest approval ratings of any first lady.

Darlene Gehring, the spouse of a retired Soldier, said she always saw Bush as very elegant and down to earth. Gehring’s husband, Carl, said being able to finally meet the former first lady was a “chance to thank Mrs. Bush for her service to our state and to our nation.”