'Gabby Opened Her Eyes for the First Time': Obama at Tucson Memorial

President Obama paid tribute on Wednesday to the victims of Saturday's Tucson massacre, calling for a cooling of hot political rhetoric during a memorial service attended by thousands at the University of Arizona.

"It's important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we're talking with each other in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds," the president said.

Before the service, Obama stopped at a hospital for about 45 minutes to visit Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) and other survivors of the rampage, which left six dead and 14 wounded when a gunman opened fired at a constituent meeting hosted by Giffords -- an event Obama described as "the quintessentially American scene."

Departing from his text, in what seemed an emotional high point at an event that cheered the heroes who saved lives, Obama revealed that just after his hospital visit with her, "Gabby opened her eyes for the first time. . . . So I can tell you, she knows we are here. She knows we love her. And she knows that we are rooting for her through what is undoubtedly going to be a difficult journey. We are there for her," he said to applause.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York were in the hospital room when that happened.

During the memorial service, Mark Kelly, Giffords' husband and a NASA astronaut, grasped the hands of First Lady Michelle Obama and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, a former Arizona governor, as Obama delivered the upbeat medical report.

The memorial service at the University of Arizona's McKale Center, titled "Together We Thrive: Tucson and America," started with the playing of Aaron Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man," and a native American healing blessing. The event was intended to both "mourn a tragic and senseless loss" as well as "start the process of healing," said university President Robert Shelton. The shootings, he added, changed "forever" the lives of everyone in Tucson.

"How could it have happened here, in our town?," Shelton wondered.

As the president noted in his remarks, the Tucson shootings have prompted a round of national soul searching.

"And if, as has been discussed in recent days, their deaths help usher in more civility in our public discourse, let's remember that it is not because a simple lack of civility caused this tragedy -- it did not -- but rather because only a more civil and honest public discourse can help us face up to our challenges as a nation, in a way that will make them proud."

Emphasizing this theme, Obama said, "At a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarized -- at a time when we are far too eager to lay the blame for all that ails the world at the feet of those who happen to think differently than we do -- it's important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we're talking with each other in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds.

Obama talked about each person who died, saying that "they too represented what is best in America." He was seated next to Daniel Hernandez, 20, the Giffords' staff intern and University of Arizona student who administered life-saving first aid to her after the attack. He received a standing ovation when Shelton hailed his heroism.

Speaking briefly, Hernandez said, "I must humbly reject the use of the word hero, because I am not one," and noted that out of the tragedy came a newfound sense of unity.

"On Saturday, we all became Tusconians," Hernandez said. Returning to the front row, he shook hands with Obama and was hugged by Mrs. Obama.

Napolitano read a passage from the Book of Isaiah in the Old Testament and Attorney General Eric Holder quoted from Corinthians in the New Testament.

"America grieves with us," said Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer.

Arizona Sens. John McCain and Jon Kyl were also at the memorial. The university estimated 14,300 people filled the center and an overflow area had a crowd of 13,000.