Attending a Presidential Inauguration in Washington DC

The Presidential Inauguration of Barack Obama in the United States of America in January 2009 will be ‘THE EVENT OF THE YEAR’.


Now, what does a Canadian have to say about the US election anyway? Read on, you might be surprised!

In January 2001, my husband and I were invited to attend the Inauguration of George W. Bush, in Washington DC. Yes, of course, we went – we were living in Houston Texas at the time. History fascinates me and to be part of this historic event was an honor – and let me tell you, it was quite a party!

Here is my recount of the events day by day as we took part in this momentous occasion!

Kent and I were absolutely thrilled to attend the Presidential Inauguration, January 20 2001 in Washington DC. Our very good friend Mike Thornton invited us as his guest. Mike is a Medal of Honor Recipient and has attended most of the Inaugurations since 1973 when President Nixon presented his medal.

Thursday:

We left Houston, Texas January 18. The flight to Washington was absolutely full and took so long to load as all the mink coats and hatboxes had to be carefully stored. There was definitely an air of excitement – the Texans were out in full force with their jeans, boots, big hair and Texas flag shirts.

The ‘Veterans of Foreign Wars’ members met us at the airport and shuttled us to the Sheraton National Hotel. The VFW host the recipients and their families (and a few very fortunate friends) in Washington for each Inauguration.

There were 94 of the 150 living recipients in attendance. They wore their Medals of Honor to all events so were easy to recognize. All have fascinating stories to tell and we were well entertained on all bus trips! Our group was treated royally at all times and even bused to the events with a police escort of 4 to 6 cars and many motorcycles. Our bus flew down the streets, through red lights, with sirens blaring and onlookers waving and cheering (and some protesting too).

The VFW hosted our first reception and dinner at the Sheraton Hotel. There were flag centerpieces on each table, a wonderful buffet dinner and speeches welcoming the recipients. We were very late to bed (2 am) with a very early start next morning.

Friday:

The buses were waiting for us at 7:30 am and we were off to the Renaissance Hotel for a “Congressional Medal of Honor” breakfast, hosted by the AMVETS. The “Presentation of Colors” was wonderful to experience (a first for this Canadian) as 6 young men carrying their flags were ‘piped’ in with a great deal of pomp and ceremony. Following was the Pledge of Allegiance, the National Anthem, then the Invocation. Just picture standing in a room of 94 Medal of Honor Recipients who each had their right hand over their heart pledging allegiance to their great country. It was moving, and a real privilege to be part and made me truly understand why Americans are patriotic and proud of their country. We had another wonderful meal with speeches, recognition and special thanks to the MOH recipients.

Then, back on the bus to Arlington National Cemetary for a Memorial Service to honor the 26 MOH recipients who passed away since the 1997 Inauguration. There were many tears, especially during the playing of ‘Taps’.

Back on the bus to the hotel for a luncheon hosted by the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The National Anthem and Invocation were followed by a fantastic filet mignon, then speeches and musical entertainment. The US Navy Sea Chanters entertained us with a song for each branch of the military, with Navy, Army, Marines, Air Force and Coast Guard standing and belting out their songs. It was fun!

With sirens blaring again, we headed downtown on the buses, to George Washington University Smith Center for the ‘Vice President-Elect Salutes America’s Veterans”. We arrived to find security, metal detectors and purse searches before being ushered to our very special seating area – close to the stage.

Each seat had a program, lovely Inaugural lapel pin and flag lapel pin. Singer Connie Francis, Gerald McRaney (remember the TV show Simon & Simon?) and Robert Conrad – actor and veteran introduced various audience members, such as Senator Bob Dole, Senator John McCain, Secretary of State Colin Powell and other civilians who spoke of remembrances of each War. The most fascinating speech to me was by a Holocaust survivor from Poland. He told of his harrowing experiences, marching, working, near starvation, losing loved ones to the gas chamber and his miraculous rescue by an American tank crew. A woman spoke as well of the ‘Unknown Soldier’ who was buried in Arlington Cemetery. She and her young man were planning to be married when he was called to Vietnam. He was listed as MIA for nearly 30 years when the tomb of the Unknown Soldier was exhumed and DNA testing finally identified him. His remains were then returned to his mother. It was a very touching story and there wasn’t a dry in in the auditorium. There’s more to this story to come in a later paragraph.

Vice President-Elect Richard Cheney was then introduced with his wife and he spoke, thanking and honoring Veterans and especially the MOH recipients. Then came a surprise announcement – President-Elect George W. Bush was waiting to address the audience. Well, the crowd of about 2500 went wild – they were so excited. So with much to-do and a drum roll, in he came with Mrs. Bush. He spoke for 10 minutes and as he was finishing my friend raised her arm to wave to him. I saw what she was doing so I waved too, trying to help her catch his attention. He looked at us, smiled and waved back. Well, that topped off the day as everyone watched him wave to US. Lee Greenwood and the entire audience sang ‘Proud to be an American’!

Back to the hotel after an incredible day. We were tired but excitedly looking forward to Saturday. The rest of the afternoon and evening were free time, so a group of us went for dinner at an Italian Restaurant in Crystal City. It was after 11 when we returned to the hotel, but Mike and Kent decided to take in the ‘Texas Black Tie and Boots Ball’. Mike had tickets and as they were the second hottest iticket of the weekend, highly sought and reportedly selling for around $3000.00 each on eBay, they couldn’t let them go to waste. Off they went in their blue jeans and boots (oops – no black tie or even a tux jacket – Mike’s medal around his neck gets him ANYWHERE – even through police barricades). They didn’t get back to the hotel until 4 am. The party was absolutely huge with between 9,000 and 10,000 in attendance at the Marriott Hotel, taking place in at least 5 ballrooms with entertainment, food and drink – and much schmoozing of course.

Saturday – Inauguration Day:

After a night of too little sleep, we all piled on the buses for a breakfast hosted by the Reserve Officers Association in the Minuteman Memorial Building, which is right across the street from the Capitol Building. We enjoyed another wonderful breakfast, with a few short speeches then off we went, walking this time, to the reserved seating outside the West front of the Capitol. It was drizzling and very cold, but we’d dressed warmly. I had on a warm sweater, long johns, pants, boots, a wool coat, scarf and a hot shot in my glove. We huddled together under umbrellas and shared our body warmth (our chairs were extremely close – but at least we had chairs – there were hundreds of thousands who stood the entire time – and maybe hours before that to keep their places).

The crowd was estimated at 500,000 and judging by the picture in the newspaper, they were all there – more people than I’d ever seen in one place! The Capitol Building was awesome, even in the rain. A brass band played and a giant TV screen was set up for us to watch the motorcade traveling the street and the various dignitaries entering the building and being introduced. As we watched on screen, President Clinton exited the car he and President-Elect George Bush arrived in together at the East front of the Capitol. The crowd booed so loudly he must have heard even though we were at the other side of the building. The audience was a little more polite when he was introduced personally, but it was definitely not his day.

President-Elect George W. Bush was finally shown onscreen, walking the hall of the Capitol, descending the stairway and was introduced as he came out to the front of the building (behind the bullet proof glass). Richard Cheney was sworn in first then the big moment we’d all been waiting for – actually a let-down for me… The taking of oath was extremely short; a surprise to me as I’d never really listened in years gone by. His acceptance speech rallied the crowd, with much talk of tax relief (that got the biggest cheer), reforming the school system and the importance of a strong military force, with an increased budget. The Inauguration ended with 500,000 people singing “America the Beautiful”. It was a moving moment – again with many tears of pride.

We made record time walking back to the warmth of the Minuteman building and the bathrooms, then on to the buses to find a wonderful surprise of a boxed lunch. It was a welcome sight even without a fork to eat the pasta salad! The VFW know how to give VIP treatment. Our big choice of the afternoon was which bus to take – did we want to watch the Presidential parade in the VIP seating area – in the rain – or did we want to go back to the hotel. The TV screens in the bar of the hotel won out and we enjoyed an afternoon of camaraderie and warmth.

Much more to come – Inaugural Ball, Unknown Soldier, Vietnam Memorial with MOH Recipients…

This is part two of my Inauguration 2001 experience:

We were dressed in our finery and ready to board the buses at 4:30 for the ‘Salute to Heroes’ Veterans Inaugural Banquet and Ball, hosted by the American Legion. Again, with sirens blasting and lights flashing our police car and motorcycle escort made traveling the crowded streets an amazing experience. By this time, we were used to the comfort and security and looked forward to it. The protesters were quite rowdy at times and a little frightening. I wouldn’t have wanted to be walking past them…

After passing through security once more, with purses searched again, we were pleasantly surprised to find Catherine Bell (you know – the girl from JAG) as our Master of Ceremonies. The head table was filled with important dignitaries, from each section of the Military and the host organizations. During the speeches, the Marines were called upon to demonstrate their “Hoo-Rah” for Catherine Bell. I think she was impressed – I know I was!

The dress was Black Tie, and there were more than 1000 people in attendance. I’ve never seen so many lovely black mink coats! The gowns were spectacular, but 2 in particular caught my eye. One was strapless black velvet with a black fur trim around the bodice (mink, fox, rabbit – I don’t know and didn’t want to be too nosy – which is totally unlike me!). The other was round-necked cream satin with pearls sewn all over the bodice and sequins on the skirt. There were dozens of black velvets and 2 ladies in the room had on the exact same outfit. There were elegant dresses, demure, pretty, ingenue – you name it – it was there. We saw high-necked, long sleeves, very ladylike, sleeveless, backless, nearly frontless and a great deal of cleavage. The men were very handsome in their dress uniforms and tuxedos, but Kent was the hit of the party in his Texas flag bowtie and vest. Numerous people asked where he bought his ensemble, could they have it, could they buy it and even wanted to know where he was really from as he was wearing a Canadian lapel pin.

We ate our salads, were introduced to the head table then the Secret Service arrived with the President and Mrs. Bush as well as Vice President and Mrs. Cheney. Another brass band heralded their arrival and the flash bulbs lit up the room. The President spoke, again honoring the Veterans and MOH recipients in particular. No autographs or mingling as he had 8 more Inaugural Balls at which to make an appearance – but the MOH recipients were honored with his first stop of the evening.

We enjoyed another steak dinner with the longest green beans in the world. They must have been at least a foot long and wrapped in a circle around the mashed potatoes, vegetables and steak. It was a beautiful presentation and an interesting topic of conversation – not that we needed one as we enjoyed the company of two MOH Recipients at our table! After dinner a band played – we had to move to another table as we were seated near the front of the room, on the dance floor. It was a lovely evening and all over by midnight.

Sunday

Sunday was a ‘slow getting started’ day, but once we (8 of us) piled into 2 cars, we packed as much sightseeing in as possible. It had snowed during the night and was very cold, but sunny. We drove to Arlington National Cemetery and our first stop was to visit JFK’s Memorial to see the eternal flame. We then carried on to the “Tomb of the Unknown Soldier” – okay now remember I said there was more to this story? We arrived just in time for the “Changing of the Guard” which happens every hour and was fascinating to watch. The precision and professionalism are absolutely amazing. After the ceremony, Mike introduced himself to one of the guards and asked to take us into the restricted area where all the memorabilia is stored. It’s also the living quarters for the guards – they are on 24/7 for 3 days then off 4 days – much like a firefighters schedule they explained. They gave us a guided tour and Mike then explained more about the Unknown Soldier. In 1986 Mike flew to Hawaii with 3 others to bring the body home. There were 4 unidentified soldiers from the Vietnam War and they randomly chose one coffin and laid a rose on it. It was then transported to Washington DC and carried on a horse drawn carriage from the Capitol Building to the Cemetery, where he was interred as the “Unknown Soldier”. Mike was one of the Honorary Pallbearers.

As we were walking back up the steps to look at the memorial, Mike ran into the lady who had spoken two days before so eloquently about this young man. Mike introduced himself and all of us. We chatted to her for a few minutes and thanked her for sharing her story. She was so pleased to meet Mike and thanked him for his part. It was another teary moment…

We then walked with one of our fellow sightseers to his father’s grave (another MOH Recipient), to pay our respects. More tears… sorry I keep telling you about the tears, but this was the most emotional 4 days in which Kent and I have ever been involved. Just to be in the presence of all these heroes, to hear their amazing stories, to see the respect, love and admiration was awesome. Young men came up to Mike and other MOH Recipients to ask to shake their hand, take photos and to thank them for the freedom they enjoy in America.

Back to the car we went, after walking about 5 miles throughout the cemetery. It has to be the biggest in the world and has lovely, huge old oak trees standing guard over America’s brave.

We then drove to the Vietnam Memorial where a number of people were doing pencil rubbings of names. What a wonderful keepsake. Mike showed us countless names on the wall and told stories of many. I wish their families could hear him speak of the fathers, sons and brothers and the camaraderie and brotherhood love they shared. Mike lost 32 buddies during the Vietnam War. Looking at the wall, reading the names, watching the people touch their loved ones names was another incredible experience, shared with very special friends.

We carried on to the Lincoln Memorial where one of the couples with us said they’d been planning to get engaged but he was worried about losing the ring so asked her before this trip to Washington. We insisted he get down on his knee on the marble steps and propose anyway, especially for a photo op! It was very romantic and a moment they’ll remember forever. The crowd loved it too and clapped and cheered! We saw the Korean War Memorial, then bought a few souvenirs and tried to warm up with a cup of coffee. We could see the Washington Monument in the distance, down the Mall, reflected in the ‘reflecting pool’. What a beautiful sight.

We drove to the White House, took photos through the gate then bought souvenir sweatshirts – brrrr… it was 6 pm and getting cold. We made one last stop to see the Jefferson Memorial and visit the gift shop to buy t-shirts and more souvenirs. It was dark by then and in the distance we could see all the memorials lit up for the night. They looked spectacular. We were back at the hotel around 7 pm to meet a friend for dinner.

Monday

After breakfast Monday morning, Kent and I headed for the airport and home. We experienced 4 unforgettable days, thanks to Mike Thornton who opened his arms and hearts to two lonely Canadians living in Texas, sharing his life and love of country by including us in the Inauguration Ceremony of George W. Bush.

Washington DC is a lovely city that we’d like to explore again, perhaps during summer weather.