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A dozen flag-draped coffins for Texas' dead: Obama joins mourners



President Barack Obama told mourners at an emotional memorial service for victims of a Texas plant explosion that their community is not alone at this time of great tragedy.


With a dozen flag-draped coffins of before him, Obama said: 'We're neighbors too. We're American too, we stand with you and we do not forget.'


The April 17 fertilizer plant fire in West, Texas, erupted and leveled part of the town and killed 14 people. The memorial service was held at Baylor University in nearby Waco.

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President Obama speaks during a memorial service in Waco, Texas, on Thursday for the firefighters who were killed in a huge blast at a Texas fertilizer plant last week



President Barack Obama told mourners at an emotional memorial service for victims of a Texas plant explosion that their community is not alone at this time of great tragedy







Mourners cried during Thursday's memorial service for the firefighters who were killed in a huge blast at a Texas fertilizer plant last week




Obama pays tribute to West dead


'This small town's family is bigger now,' Obama said during a memorial service at Baylor University for victims of last week's explosion in nearby West, Texas, that killed 14 and injured 200.


Nearly 10,000 gathered to remember the first responders killed in the blast, a crowd more than triple the size of West's entire population of 2,700.




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'To the families, the neighbors grappling with unbearable loss, we are here to say you are not alone. You are not forgotten,' Obama said to applause. 'We may not all live here in Texas, but we're neighbors too. We're Americans too, and we stand with you.'

The April 17 explosion left a crater more than 90 feet wide and damaged dozens of buildings, displacing many residents from their homes.


The Insurance Council of Texas estimates it caused more than $100 million in damage, and crews were sifting the rubble to search for clues to what caused the explosion or whether foul play was involved.


The president and first lady attended the victims of the fertilizer plant explosion in which around 200 people were injured last Wednesday



Members of the audience cry during a memorial ceremony for victims of the fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas, attended by President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama



Portraits of twelve who died in the fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas, are pictured alongside their coffins as U.S. President Barack Obama delivers remarks during the memorial ceremony




The blast came about 20 minutes after a fire was reported at the West Fertilizer. Ten of those killed were first responders who sped out to the nighttime blaze.


The memorial service honored those first responders and two civilians who tried to fight the fire and were posthumously named volunteer first responders.


Among the dead were brothers Douglas and Robert Snokhous, West High School graduates who volunteered together for the town's fire department for more than 13 years.


As Obama spoke, the gymnasium lit up with the flashes of cameras and cellphones, glimmering like stars in the dimly lit room. The president spoke for 16 minutes, quoting scripture and lauding the men whose flag-draped coffins laid before him.


'When you got to the scene, you forgot fear and you fought that blaze as hard as you could, knowing the danger,' Obama said.



The memorial service honored those first responders and two civilians who tried to fight the fire and were posthumously named volunteer first responders



'This small town's family is bigger now,' Obama said during a memorial service at Baylor University for victims of last week's explosion in nearby West

The service opened with a photo slide show set to country music that was projected onto a movie screen. It showed images of the men from their childhood, their weddings and other moments throughout lives filled with children and friends.


Mourners were given programs with full-page profiles of each of the victims, describing their lives, their values and their faith.


'How does one find such love to be willing to lay down your life so that others may live?' asked Texas Sen. John Cornyn, speaking on behalf of the state's congressional delegation.


'This will forever be the legacy of those who ran toward the fire last week.'


Texas Gov. Rick Perry eulogized the unpaid first responders, lamenting that each had a personal story and journey that drew to a close too soon.


'These are volunteers. Ordinary individuals blessed with extraordinary courage and a determination to do what they could to save lives,' he said.


'They're the ones who proudly said 'not on my watch' in the moments immediately following that explosion.'



Firefighters salute alongside the coffins of their colleagues who died at the fertilizer plant explosion



Nearly 10,000 gathered to remember the first responders killed in the blast, a crowd more than triple the size of West's entire population of 2,700

Perry's remarks were followed by video of the victims' grim-faced family members remembering their lives and expressing pride for their heroism.


The brother-in-law of Cody Dragoo, another volunteer firefighter, remembered how Dragoo would leave notes for his wife, Patty, when he was traveling, and how he loved hunting and NASCAR.

Obama added his appearance at the memorial service onto a long-planned trip to Texas for Thursday's opening of George W. Bush's presidential library at Southern Methodist University.


Bush sent his sympathies in a statement read at the service by Baylor President Ken Starr, the former special prosecutor who investigated President Bill Clinton.


Obama's solemn reflections at the memorial required an abrupt shift in tone by the president, whose morning in Dallas was filled with smiles, music and pageantry as he and the other four living presidents celebrated one of their own.


Less than an hour later, Obama was airborne over West, circling the scene of the explosion - still a harrowing site more than a week after tragedy first touched the small Texas town.



President Obama circled the scene of the explosion - still a harrowing site more than a week after tragedy first touched the small Texas town


The President told mourners at a memorial service for victims of a Texas plant explosion that their community is not alone

From his helicopter, Obama saw what looked like a massive construction site, with cranes and dozens of vehicles dotting a wide swath of brown earth.


Piles of burnt rubble and scorched earth were clearly visible. Obama could also see the school field first responders used as a staging ground.


Obama has made such a trip countless times before, touring damage and consoling survivors of other disasters including Hurricane Irene, Hurricane Sandy and a string of mass shootings.


It was just one week ago that Obama was in Boston, offering solace to the nation at a memorial for victims of the Boston Marathon bombing, another larger-than-life tragedy that compounded the nation's grief the same week as the explosion in West.


A parade of fire trucks and other first responders' vehicles paraded through Waco en route to the ceremony at Baylor's sports arena.


The vehicles entered under an archway formed by the ladders from two fire trucks with an American flag hung between them.


Many of the mourners wore the uniforms of police, firefighters and paramedics and wiped tears from their eyes.



An honor guard member salutes at the memorial for firefighters killed at the fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas


Caskets sit in front of the stage of a memorial for firefighters who were killed in the West, Texas, fertilizer plant explosion

Brian Crawford, fire chief in the Dallas suburb of Plano, attended with 11 others from his department even though they live 100 miles from West.


'With these unfortunate circumstances, it's time to show we are all a family,' Crawford said. 'These were our brothers and they paid the price.'


After the service, the president and first lady Michelle Obama were planning to visit privately with relatives and friends of firefighters killed in the explosion, the White House said.

Obama attended the service with first lady Michele Obama on the same day he shared the stage in Dallas with four former presidents gathered for the dedication of George W. Bush's presidential library.


Obama says: 'We give thanks for the courage and the compassion and incredible grace of the people of West.'



U.S. President Barack Obama meets Bishop Joe Vasquez of Austin, alongside U.S. Senator John Cornyn at the memorial for victims of the fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas

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