Obama meets family of fallen Alaskan Marine - Marine Corps News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Marine Corps Times

Obama meets family of fallen Alaskan Marine

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — During his brief stop in Alaska, President Obama met privately with relatives of Marine Cpl. Gregory Fleury, who was killed last month in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan.

Obama spent 10 minutes speaking with Fleury’s mother, stepfather and grandfather in a room at Elmendorf Air Force Base.

Stepfather Christopher Flygare said the president expressed his condolences and said he appreciated Fleury’s service to the country. “He hugged us and was very cordial and very supportive,” Flygare told the Anchorage Daily News. “He told us if there was anything he could do, he would do it, within his power.”

Grandfather Albert Fleury, an Athabascan with roots in Copper Center and a board member of Ahtna Inc., the regional Native corporation, presented Obama with a pair of hand-beaded moosehide mittens made by a shareholder.

“He was very appreciative to get it,” Fleury said. “It was an exceptionally great honor that he would take time out of his busy schedule to give us condolences for the family for the loss of our son and grandson.”

The meeting was arranged by Maj. William Allen, the commander in Alaska of about a dozen active duty troops and a reserve unit of about 50 Marines who live here and make up Delta Company of the Corps’ Anti-Terrorism Battalion. Allen said he called the White House military office, the Navy Secretary’s office, and “most importantly,” got help from Alaska’s congregational delegation.

“It was emotional not only for the family, but for the president as well,” Allen said of the meeting. “It was a very private moment. They were very humbled.”

Obama later used part of his speech at the base Thursday to recognize the 23-year-old Fleury, a 2005 Service High School graduate.

“Raised in Anchorage, he joined the Marines and served two tours in Iraq. He loved the Corps, he loved Alaska, so much so that he carried the state flag with him everywhere,” Obama said. “It was with him last month when he was killed in those helicopter crashes in Afghanistan.”