KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — President Barack Obama will visit Landstuhl Regional Medical Center on June 5, the White House confirmed Thursday.
The visit — Obama’s first to a hospital with recovering Iraq and Afghanistan combat wounded since becoming president — follows last July’s campaign controversy when the then-Democratic presidential contender canceled a trip to visit wounded troops at the hospital.
From Landstuhl, Obama is scheduled to go to Normandy, France, for the 65th anniversary of D-Day on June 6.
The White House confirmed the visit in a two-sentence press release issued late Thursday.
While the White House release mentioned nothing about Obama visiting Ramstein Air Base, it is likely that he will stop there. It is the closest U.S. air base to Landstuhl. Military aircraft carrying wounded troops from Iraq and Afghanistan land at Ramstein and the troops are taken by bus for the 15-minute trip to Landstuhl.
Ramstein and U.S. European Command officials referred all questions about Obama’s visit to the White House.
Earlier Thursday, German police in Kaiserslautern said they were helping provide security.
“We are planning a police operation for the president’s visit,” said Arno Heeling, a German police spokesman.
Obama’s trip begins in the Middle East, where he’ll stop in Saudi Arabia and Egypt before coming to Europe, the New York Times reported.
Obama and French President Nicolas Sarkozy are expected to attend a D-Day anniversary ceremony on June 6 at the Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, France.
Reached after the White House announced Obama’s visit, Landstuhl spokesman Chuck Roberts said he had no further details.
Controversy arose last summer when Obama canceled a trip to Landstuhl. Obama believed he could visit wounded troops at the military hospital in Germany without involving them in a campaign controversy, but he scrapped his plans after the Pentagon raised concerns, the Associated Press reported in July 2008.
Obama’s canceled visit to Landstuhl sparked a strong and lingering reaction from Republican candidate Sen. John McCain, who suggested that Obama canceled the trip because media could not cover the event. Defense Department policy guidance states that candidates cannot use military facilities for political campaign or election events.
However, Obama did visit wounded troops at Walter Reed Army Medical Center several times during his presidential election campaign last summer, and most recently again in January prior to his inauguration. He’s also invited recovering servicemembers to a number of White House events, including last week’s meet-and-greet with the Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers.
Stars and Stripes’ Mike Abrams and Leo Shane contributed to this story.
