A fallen soldier memorial lines the stage before the start of the III Corps and Fort Hood Memorial Ceremony November 10, 2009 held to honor the 13 victims of the shootings which took place on the Fort Hood Army post in Fort Hood, Texas. [Agencies]

The ceremony unfolded in a field at the headquarters of the massive post, cordoned off with walls of steel shipping containers. Many soldiers in the crowd listened intently to Obama's speech, standing stoically, some with heads bowed.

Sheila Wormuth, whose husband is stationed at Fort Hood, came with her 3-year-old daughter to show their support. While her husband wasn't at the shooting site, she said, "what happens to my husband's brothers and sisters happens to us."

Bonita Childs, 46, drove 30 miles to attend the ceremony, even though she had no connection to Fort Hood.

"I wanted to be a part of it," she said. "Our soldiers give so freely of themselves for the freedom we enjoy, and I thought coming here today and showing my gratitude was the least I could do."

It was Obama's moment to take on the job of consoler-in-chief, a role that can help to shape a presidency at a time of national tragedy.

The president has tried to strike a balanced tone: He has promised a full investigation of the Fort Hood shootings but has said little about it as investigators search for a motive. He said Tuesday it was "hard to comprehend the twisted logic that led to this tragedy."

It wasn't even two weeks ago that Obama stood in the dark of night at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, honoring the remains of 18 troops killed in Afghanistan. Now he led the mourning for 13 men and women who were working in the one place, as Obama put it, that "our soldiers ought to feel most safe."

When Obama returns to Washington, the cost of war will still be with him.

His agenda Wednesday: another war council meeting on Afghanistan, and laying a Veterans Day wreath at Arlington National Cemetery.