Bush tells of comforting families

Bush delivered his 62-minute convention address to an enthusiastic audience that repeatedly interrupted him with cheers and applause.

The president appeared to tear up slightly when he started talking about his personal efforts to comfort families who lost loved ones in the Sept. 11 attacks and soldiers in military operations in Afghanistan or Iraq.

“I’ve held the children of the fallen, who are told their Dad or Mom is a hero but would rather just have their Dad or Mom,” Bush said slowly with emotion in his voice.

Bush recalled families of victims offering encouragement to him as the nation’s commander-in-chief.

“Where does strength like that come from? How can people so burdened with sorrow also feel such pride?" Bush told the convention. "It is because they know their loved one was last seen doing good (and) because they know that liberty was precious to the one they lost."

At the conclusion of his remarks, first lady Laura Bush joined the president on the “island stage” amid the sea of convention delegates. Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife Lynne Cheney joined the president and first lady on the stage for the Republicans’ final celebration.