Former White House Photographer Revealed What Is Hidden in the Photo of Obama with an Injured Vet

Pete Souza, former White House photographer and the author of “Obama: An Intimate Portrait”, revealed the accounts of Obama’s meetings with Army Ranger Cory Remsburg.

Remsburg, who was severely injured during a mission in Afghanistan, was often visited by Obama at the hospital. According to Pete, the then president would often visit Walter Reed Hospital where soldiers were taken after they suffered injuries in Afghanistan, Iraq or anywhere in the world.

Sharing his experience, Pete recalled how they had walked into a room and met Army Ranger Cory Remsburg who had dozens of stitches across the side of his head. Severely injured, Cory was not in a fully conscious state when they walked in.

“There was a picture hanging on the wall that I had taken eight months earlier of President Obama meeting Cory Remsburg in Normandy and I had forgotten of that moment,” Pete recalled as he went on to talk about the experience. “And to see the contrast of this photograph that was hanging on his hospital room wall and the injured Cory in the bed was almost too much to bear. We didn't know that he was going to recover.”

About eighteen months later, Cory met with Obama backstage at Phoenix where Pete accompanied him for a speech. By then, he was learning how to walk again and he walked across the room with the help of his walker.

Their next meeting was during the time when Cory came to visit Obama in the Oval Office. They were amazed to see him walk through the door by himself and shake hands with the former president.

Many of Pete’s images of Obama have gone viral. One of such images was shot in the Oval Office on May 8, 2009, which portrays the son of National Security staffer Carlton Philadelphia, Jacob Philadelphia, touching Obama’s hair.

Pete believes it is one the most iconic shots of Obama’s administration, saying it “tells a lot about him as a person” and that he would not hesitate to bend down for a little boy to touch his head.