CRAWFORD, Texas (Reuters) – President Bush, fresh from a whirlwind trip to Iraq to boost the morale of troops, tried on Saturday to do the same for the soldiers’ families who are worried about their loved ones.

November was the deadliest month for U.S. troops in Iraq with 72 soldiers killed, the most since March when the war to oust Iraqi President Saddam Hussein began. Bush declared major combat operations over in Iraq on May 1, but since then, 185 U.S. soldiers have been killed in combat or guerrilla attacks.

The administration has pledged to keep U.S. troops in Iraq as long as the battle continues, and at the same time has taken some heat for the lengthy rotations in the field some soldiers have had to endure.

“Many parents are dealing with the burdens of raising families, while praying for the safe return of a loved one,” Bush said in his weekly radio address. “Our whole nation respects and appreciates the commitment and sacrifice of our military families.”

The president, spending the weekend at his Texas ranch, urged Americans to help troops and their families by doing volunteer work such as preparing care packages and collecting gifts for baby showers for expectant military wives.

Some 130,000 U.S. soldiers are on the ground in Iraq now and, while the Pentagon had planned to shrink that to 105,000 by May, earlier this week the Defense Department said it would send three additional Marine battalions early next year.

Foreign troops helping the U.S. effort in Iraq were also continuing to take heavy fire. Six Spanish intelligence agents were killed and one was wounded on Saturday when their convoy was ambushed south of Baghdad.

Nonetheless, U.S. military officials in Iraq said the number of attacks on soldiers had fallen in recent weeks and they were stepping up their campaign to root out insurgents, deploying more mobile infantry to replace armored units.

Bush skipped a traditional Thanksgiving turkey dinner with his family to secretly fly 27 hours round-trip to Baghdad where he spent two and a half hours with troops trying to boost their morale.

“I’m pleased to report back from the front lines that our troops are strong, morale is high and our military is confident we will prevail,” he said.

Bush’s brief appearance in Baghdad highlighted the danger that still exists there for soldiers and the Iraqi people, since he didn’t leave the airport, and news of the visit was released only after he left.

Almost 300 U.S. soldiers died in coalition effort to remove Saddam amid fears that he could deploy weapons of mass destruction.

Bush has come under criticism from some quarters, including Democratic presidential candidates, for not attending a single funeral of the soldiers killed in the Iraqi conflict, which could be a political liability in the 2004 election.

To blunt that criticism, Bush has stepped up meetings with military families, most recently spending one hour and 40 minutes with 98 relatives of 26 fallen soldiers who were based at a Colorado military base.

“Our military families that mourn can know this, our nation will not forget their loved ones, and the sacrifice they made to protect us all,” Bush said.