1||January 12, 2011: Four days after a gunman killed six and wounded 13, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), at an event in Tucson, President Obama, family members, public officials and thousands of others gathered for a memorial service at the University of Arizona. ||Kevork Djansezian/UPI/Newscom&&
2||The venue was filled to capacity, with more than 14,000 people there, and another 10,000 people who couldn’t get in watching from the university’s nearby stadium. ||Kevork Djansezian/UPI/Newscom&&
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4||Relatives of Dorwin Stoddard, who was killed in Saturday’s shooting.||Kevork Djansezian/UPI/Newscom&&
5||President Obama hugging Mary Stoddard, Dorwin Stoddard’s widow.||Kevork Djansezian – Pool via CNP/Newscom&&
6||||Kevork Djansezian – Pool via CNP/Newscom&&
7||First Lady Michelle Obama sat in the front row next to Mark Kelly, Rep. Giffords’ husband.||Kevork Djansezian/UPI/Newscom&&
8||||Kevork Djansezian – Pool via CNP/Newscom&&
9||President Obama, with the family of Dorwin Stoddard||Kevork Djansezian – Pool via CNP/Newscom&&
10||Dr. Peter Rhee, one of the doctors treating Giffords, posing for a picture with Tucson firefighters.||Kevork Djansezian – Pool via CNP/Newscom&&
11||Carlos Gonzalez gave a Native American blessing during the service||Art Foxall/ART FOXALL/Newscom&&
12||Among the speakers was Daniel Hernandez, a 20-year-old intern in Giffords’ office, whose quick thinking in the moments after the shooting has been credited with potentially saving her life.||Art Foxall/ART FOXALL/Newscom&&
13||||Kevork Djansezian – Pool via CNP/Newscom&&
14||||Will Seberger/MCT/Newscom&&
15||||Kevork Djansezian – Pool via CNP/Newscom&&
16||After speaking, Hernandez hugged Kelly, Giffords’ husband.||Kevork Djansezian – Pool via CNP/Newscom&&
17||The service was broadcast nationally, and Obama offered the nation’s condolences for the victims
“There is nothing I can say that will fill the sudden hole torn in your hearts. But know this: the hopes of a nation are here tonight. We mourn with you for the fallen. We join you in your grief. And we add our faith to yours that Representative Gabrielle Giffords and the other living victims of this tragedy pull through,” Obama said. (Read Obama’s entire speech here.)||Kevork Djansezian – Pool via CNP/Newscom&&
18||The President offered thanks to those whose actions saved lives on Saturday.
“These men and women remind us that heroism is found not only on the fields of battle. They remind us that heroism does not require special training or physical strength. Heroism is here, all around us, in the hearts of so many of our fellow citizens, just waiting to be summoned – as it was on Saturday morning,” he said.||Art Foxall/ART FOXALL/Newscom&&
19||The First Lady, looking on.||Kevork Djansezian/UPI/Newscom&&
20||The President also took the opportunity to call for more civility in the nation’s discourse, though he made a point of saying that “a simple lack of civility” did not cause the tragedy.
“I believe we can be better. Those who died here, those who saved lives here – they help me believe. We may not be able to stop all evil in the world, but I know that how we treat one another is entirely up to us. I believe that for all our imperfections, we are full of decency and goodness, and that the forces that divide us are not as strong as those that unite us,” he said.||Will Seberger/MCT/Newscom&&
21||The speech paid special attention to the youngest victim of the tragedy, 9-year-old Christina Taylor Green.
“If there are rain puddles in heaven, Christina is jumping in them today. And here on Earth, we place our hands over our hearts, and commit ourselves as Americans to forging a country that is forever worthy of her gentle, happy spirit,” Obama said.||Kevork Djansezian – Pool via CNP/Newscom&&
22||The First Lady and Mark Kelly.||Kevork Djansezian/UPI/Newscom&&
23||The President and Kelly.||Kevork Djansezian/UPI/Newscom&&
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26||Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer at the podium.||Art Foxall/UPI/Newscom&&
27||Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano||Art Foxall/UPI/Newscom&&
28||Attorney General Eric Holder||Art Foxall/ART FOXALL/Newscom&&
29||Members of the neurological team that worked on Rep. Giffords.||Art Foxall/ART FOXALL/Newscom&&
30||||Official White House Photo by Pete Souza&&
31||||Official White House Photo by Pete Souza&&
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35||||Official White House Photo by Pete Souza&&
36||||Official White House Photo by Pete Souza&&
37||||Official White House Photo by Pete Souza&&
38||||Official White House Photo by Pete Souza&&
39||||Official White House Photo by Pete Souza&&
40||||Official White House Photo by Pete Souza&&
41||||Official White House Photo by Pete Souza&&
42||||Official White House Photo by Pete Souza&&
