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President to attend memorial service
November 07, 2009 17:04 EST

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama will attend a memorial service Tuesday honoring victims of the Fort Hood shootings.

Obama had been scheduled to arrive in Asia on Thursday. But a source familiar with Obama's planning says the president will arrive in Tokyo a day later than expected. The source spoke on condition of anonymity because the White House plans to release a revised schedule in the coming days.

In his Saturday radio and Internet address, the president called the attack "all the more heartbreaking and all the more despicable" because it occurred on the nation's largest Army post.

He praised those who ended the shootings, which killed 13 and wounded 30 others. And he lauded the armed services' diversity -- a move designed to calm tensions about the suspected shooter, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan .

After the address aired, Obama talked about the Fort Hood shootings during a closed-door meeting with House Democrats on health care.

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Mark Smith

The White House says President Barack Obama will head to Fort Hood on Tuesday to grieve with families of the victims of Thursday's shooting rampage. AP White House Correspondent Mark Smith reports.



< 00:12 "bore wounds themselves"

President Barack Obama

In his weekly address President Barack Obama speaks to the bravery of people in the wake of the Fort Hood shootings.



< 00:15 "States of America"

President Barack Obama

In his weekly address President Barack Obama praises the heroism exhibited by the military during the Fort Hood shootings.



< 00:14 "this national tragedy"

President Barack Obama

In his weekly address President Barack Obama calls the Fort Hood shootings a "national tragedy."



< 00:18 "like no other"

President Barack Obama

In his weekly address on the weekend before Veterans Day, President Barack Obama praises those who serve or have served in uniform.