NBC News and news services
WASHINGTON - On the eve of his inauguration, President-elect Barack Obama talked with wounded troops at a military hospital and then visited an emergency shelter for homeless teens, grabbing a paint roller to help give the walls a fresh coat of blue. He appealed to the nation he will soon lead to honor the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. through service to others.
"As we honor that legacy, it's not a day just to pause and reflect — it's a day to act," Obama said on King's national holiday. "I ask the American people to turn today's efforts into an ongoing commitment to enriching the lives of others in their communities, their cities, and their country."
Large crowds thronged to the capital city on the eve of Obama's elevation to the presidency. "Tomorrow, we will come together as one people on the same Mall where Dr. King's dream echoes still," Obama said.
A day away from becoming the nation's 44th president, Obama visited Walter Reed Army Medical Center to talk with troops injured in battle.
Then he visited Sasha Bruce House, a shelter for homeless teens in the District of Columbia, chatting with volunteers who were helping to repaint rooms and then pitching in himself.
Obama once was immersed in such work as a community organizer in Chicago.
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