This was the sixth Legacies of America’s First Ladies hosted by American University. America’s First Ladies: In Service to Our Nation focused on Laura Bush and Michelle Obama’s roles in supporting America’s service members and their families.

“One thing I would say is you worry,” Bush said of her husband’s years in office. “You worry in the White House when you know that there are troops in harm’s way, and you think about them every single night when you get in bed.”

Obama explained that in her husband’s first term, they would visit wounded troops for hours on end. “And now, today, just last week he went to visit, and he was there for 30 minutes, because there are fewer of our men and women who are being injured in war. And that feels good.”

“You know, Bob, I just wanted — meeting our service members, spending time on military bases, fundamentally changes who you are as a civilian. And I know that was true for me, because when we — I was like most Americans. I had limited connection to the military community, and it wasn’t until Barack’s campaign in 2008 that I started meeting military spouses and hearing their voices, voices that you don’t hear in regular conversation,” said Obama

Bush and her husband have made great efforts to change the stigma on veteran’s mental health issues. “The other thing that George has tried to do is take the disorder — the “d” out of the PTS. It’s an injury; it’s not a disorder. And if people are — if they’re diagnosed with a disorder, then they think it hurts them, that they won’t be able to get a job if they have a disorder. But you can improve from an injury.”

Both Obama and Bush are working to end the stigma on mental health across the nation, specifically encouraging veterans to speak up and get help.

Prior to Joining Forces, military spouses who moved to a base in a different state would have to go through hours of retraining and relicensing to resume their careers. In response to this problem, Obama worked to develop military spousal licensing.

“So slowly we started to see state legislators. Because this is one of these — this is like a no-brainer, nonpartisan issue. This is a win-win. Just get it done. Well, from start until now, we now finally have all 50 states who have military spousal licensing reciprocity going,” said Obama followed by a thunderous applause.

Both Obama and Bush urged the next First Family to prioritize service members and their families.
“As much as Laura and I have done, there’s still so much work to be done, everything is not fixed. So there’s plenty for the next administration to do and I think — I would urge all of our veteran’s organizations — our Blue Star moms, our Gold Star families, everyone — to keep the pressure on the next administration. Hold them accountable,” said Obama.

Bush ended the conference on a patriotic note, “And just a resilience of people and of America — our whole country. I think it’s very — we’re so lucky to live where we live.”

Not only do the First Ladies of the United States participate in the bettering of our troops lives, so does the Montgomery College community. Veteran services at Montgomery College “strive to create a welcoming environment for veterans and service members who are transitioning into college, while adapting the skills they developed from military training and combat experience,” according to Montgomery College.

Combat2College (C2C) at MC provides academic and social opportunities, as well as support services for veterans, and active/reserve service members. If you would like to learn more about Combat2College visit http://cms.montgomerycollege.edu/edu/tertiary1.aspx?urlid=53