Cone said Fort Hood, the largest military base in the U.S., had lost 545 soldiers in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, but losing them at home was especially painful: "We never get accustomed to losing one of our own. But we can more easily accept it when it happens on foreign soil against a known enemy."

Gen. George Casey, the Army chief of staff, added, "What happened this past Thursday will impact the families, the Fort Hood community and the Army for a long time to come."

Tuesday's event drew thousands of soldiers, truckloads of media and a battalion of U.S. lawmakers, including Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill.

After the 1st Cavalry Division Band played

Obama mentioned each slain soldier by name and offered details of each. Among them were retired chief warrant officer Michael Cahill, 62, a physician's assistant who returned to work just three weeks after having a heart attack, and Pfc. Aaron Nemelka, 19, an Eagle Scout who had recently joined the Army to defuse bombs.

He spoke of Staff Sgt. Amy Krueger, an athlete in high school who joined the Army shortly after 9/11. She told her mother she intended to take on Osama bin Laden. When her mother told her she couldn't take him on by herself, she replied, "Watch me," Obama said.

Before the event, Obama and other officials visited wounded soldiers in hospitals and met the slain soldiers' families.

Ronald Fiveash said the president visited his brother, Staff Sgt. Paul Martin, who is recovering at a local hospital with four bullet wounds from Thursday's attack. He also met separately with Martin's wife and the rest of the family.

"He was so genuine and so sincere," Fiveash said of Obama. "We needed that. The whole family needed that."

Some family members were not consolable. "I'm still in disbelief," said Sheryll Pearson, whose son, Michael Pearson, 22, was slain. "Nothing helps."

Post officials said they hope the memorial service, beamed to military installations around the world, helps with the healing process.