"Since we last gathered for this dinner we have lived through some extraordinary events. We have seen a dictator defy the world and we have seen a coalition of free nations give its answer," the president told the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner Saturday. 

At least 13 journalists from around the world died covering the U.S. invasion of Iraq and the ouster of its leader, Saddam Hussein. 

In his address, Bush singled out two American reporters who died early this month in Iraq. 

"Michael Kelly's readers knew of his intellectual courage. He wrote with integrity and moral conviction, never attempting to gain favor or to please the powerful," Bush said to applause. 

Kelly, 46, editor-at-large for The Atlantic Monthly magazine and a syndicated Washington Post columnist, died April 3 near Baghdad when the vehicle in which he was riding ran into a canal. 

The president called David Bloom, a 39-year-old reporter for NBC News and weekend anchor of the network's "Today" show, "the perfect man to carry viewers along on the charge to Baghdad." 

"David had a natural sincerity that people liked," Bush said. 

Bloom died April 6 from a blood clot while covering the war south Baghdad. 

After the president's address the gathering was entertained by jazz legend Ray Charles. 

First lady Laura Bush accompanied the president to the event. Typically one-liners and levity prevail, but with the war in Iraq, organizers decided against the usual practice of a comedian serving as master of ceremonies. 

Also, at least one soldier who was wounded in Iraq and now is at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington was invited. 

Administration officials on the guest list included Bush's chief of staff, Andrew Card; the national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice; and senior adviser Karl Rove. 

Organizers said Cabinet members - Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson - as well as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Richard Myers, would attend. 

From the acting world, Mary Tyler Moore, Julie Andrews and Sidney Poitier were invited. 

The association also honored winners of its annual journalism awards. 

The Merriman Smith Memorial Award - for presidential coverage under deadline - went to David Sanger of The New York Times for articles on Bush's new national security strategy, and to Jim Angle of Fox News for live reports on the return of U.N. weapons inspectors to Baghdad. 

Dana Milbank of The Washington Post received the Aldo Beckman Award for his coverage of the president. Sean Naylor of the Army Times won the Edgar A. Poe Award for his reports on the search for al-Qaida in Afghanistan. 

Presidents since Calvin Coolidge in 1924 have attended the dinner hosted by the association, which was established in 1914 as a bridge between the press corps and the White House. 

Last year Bush presented a slide show of his family accompanied by a joke-riddled speech about the 2002 election recount. 

The year before Bill Clinton put together a farewell video, in which the former president pretended to be at loose ends in the final lame-duck months of his presidency.