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VaBeachGuy

My Trip To Washington To Honor Ronald Reagan

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As many of you knew I left early Wednesday morning to go to Washington to pay my respects to President Reagan. This will be a description of my experiences and thoughts on what I witnessed and felt.

 

I arrived in Washington at about 2:00 PM and walked from the subway station to the Capitol which is almost the full length of the National Mall. As I walked down to the Capitol I stopped off briefly at the National Air & Space museum but only for a moment (drank too much water on the drive up lol) I did stop for a moment to look at the Lunar Module though, that's always a pleasure to see.

 

After leaving the Air & Space Museum I walked to where the line began and saw that there was somewhere between 100 to 200 people in line already. I had already decided to forego any sightseeing and just get in line as soon as I got there, my plan was to come back to D.C. the next day to visit a few of the museums. So I walked through the maze of barricades that were erected much the way it is done at amusement parks where you have to wind your way through the line till you get your turn to ride. To walk down just one section of the maze was about 75 yards and there ware about 10 to 15 of these sections to go through before you would reach the front of the line. Since there was only half of the first section filled it meant I would have to walk the length of about 7 or 8 football fields basically just walking in circles, so after walking through 2 of these sections I decided to just open a few of the sections so I could squeeze through to the next section and then the next and so on until I was at the front section at the end of the line. Once I did that everyone that was walking through the maze at the same time I was quickly did the same.

 

After finally getting to my place in line I kind of looked around and was surprised at the amount of people in line. I expected there to be several hundred to a thousand people in line but there seemed to be less then 200. As I stood there I looked up at the Capitol and was struck with just how majestic looking the building is. Then I realized that the position I had in the line was a perfect spot. I was standing directly in front of the steps where the casket was to be carried up and into the Capitol. I would guess that it was 2½ to 3½ football fields away (250 to 350 yards) from me so we were back a good distance but we could see the area quite well.

 

As we began our long wait in the hot and humid weather we all began to talk, we talked of the things you would expect to talk about in this setting. "Where are you from?" and "What's your name?" as well as sharing memories of President Reagan and why we came as far as we all had to spend the day in the heat and humidity standing in line. One family was up from Florida but had lived in Maryland near the city that I grew up at one time. 2 brothers were from New York, both Veterans. One from the Navy and the other from the Marines. And one woman had also traveled from New York but was from Columbia and had admired President Reagan while she lived in Columbia and wanted to pay her respects now that she lived in the United States.

 

After we had been there for about 30 minutes a gentleman from the front of the line came by passing out Dominos Pizza boxes. Someone at the front of the line had ordered about 75 pizzas to share with everyone in line. I know that it must have cost quite a bit. I believe a plain cheese pizza alone is about $10.00, so 75 of them would be about $750.00, it was a very kind thing to do and I was just struck with the mood and atmosphere of the people I was there with. It was a very somber time and we were all obviously admirers of Ronald Reagan to one degree or another so we all wished that we didn't have to be there for this kind of event, but it was also a celebration of his life and his leadership. It was as if we were at an Irish wake, eating, drinking (water) and telling stories of memories we had of President Reagan. The group that I was with in line, the brothers, the family from Florida, the woman from Columbia and I all stayed together right through the end of the night making sure that one or the other didn't get left behind when the line began to move later in the evening.

 

Little by little people began to fill in the front row of the line and by about 4:30 PM the front row was almost completely full with what I would guess was about 450 to 500 people. As we stood there talking we noticed the front of the line (to my right) was rushing away from the line and knocking over the metal barricades as they ran. We were all pretty puzzled and several thoughts were quickly passed around (all in the matter of 2 or 3 seconds). Then a Capitol Police officer on horse back rode up and said "RUN!" Well, if any of you have ever been at a public event where the police have had to move a large crowd of people in a particular direction for one reason or another you know that the main thing they try to do is do it in a calm and orderly way. So when a police officer comes and says only one word, "RUN!" there must be something pretty bad happening. I'll tell you what, it didn't take anymore then that one word to convey to everyone the importance of getting away from where we were and doing it as quickly as could safely be done.

 

With all of the rows of barricades between us and where they wanted us to run to it would have been very difficult to do, and I knew that if we just bolted away and knocked the barricades down like the some of the others had done that someone would likely fall and get hurt. So I started moving them and opening a path for people to get through. When I turned back to make sure that everyone from my newly formed group was away I noticed that the Columbian woman had gone in the wrong direction. She spoke english and I was sure she understood but I went back to make sure she knew that we had to get back away from the line as quickly as we could. When we got across the street she explained to me that her passport was in her purse and she was afraid that it would get lost in all of the confusion. In my mind I was thinking of the possibility of a chemical or biological attack or a bomb, things of that nature but I understood her concern about losing her passport and other such documents. After 2 or 3 minutes the police told us we could return to our places in the line, that everything was ok and it was a false alarm. It wasn't until later that we learned of the Gov. of Kentucky's plane being in restricted air space.

 

Later in the evening a couple of off duty Secret Service agents were in line behind us and explained that at the time we were told to run the people inside the Capitol were being told the same thing and that "TPTB" thought that this unidentified plane was "aimed" at the Capitol Building and that "it was all over but the shouting", which was meant to say that they thought that the Capitol would be destroyed by this plane.

 

Fast forward to 6:45 or 6:50 PM, the procession had made it's way down Constitution Ave and was nearing the Capitol, from the line we couldn't see it but we could hear the beating of the drums. Then we could see a little movement through the trees and buildings but it was too far away to really make anything out. I also noticed that the small crowd of about 500 had grown in size to several thousand, what I had suspected all day turned out to be true. Most of the crowd had lined up on Constitution Ave to watch the procession and then planned to move to the line to enter the Capitol for the viewing. Then something happened that I hadn't expected, I should have expected it but I didn't. I was facing Constitution Ave (with the Capitol to my right) when the loud roar of a jet fighter broke the silence that had fallen on the crowd. I looked up to see an F-15 fighter streak over head. At first I was confused as to it's purpose and my first thought was that it was there for military air cover. Then a much louder roar came about 3 seconds later and I saw 4 more F-15's in formation, then I realized that it was a military tribute to President Reagan. That group was followed about 3 seconds later by another loud roar, then another and another and yet another. On the final group of planes I noticed there were 3 planes in formation with one plane flying very high above the rest, this was the missing man formation and the plane streaking high into the sky represented our fallen leader.

 

I can't begin to convey the experience of that flyby by those 21 planes (one single plane followed by 5 groups of 4). The sound that they made streaking in and the rumble I felt in my chest was an incredible thing, add to that the reason they were doing this and it was a very moving thing to witness. It was truly Awe Inspiring.

 

About 5 to 10 minutes passed before we saw the horse drawn caisson move across the steps of the Capitol building and once it got there and stopped we were far enough away that we couldn't hear anything that was going on. We could see movement but we could also see that the casket was not being removed from the caisson. Things stayed this way for what seemed like about 10 minutes, later after watching a tape of the event I learned that they were waiting for Nancy Reagan to make her way through the Capitol and out onto the porch so she could watch the ceremony that was to take place.

 

Just as the 21 gun salute was about to begin a man walked past our location and placed a duffle bag next to the trash can and walked away. Someone that saw this happen quickly called a police officer over and told him of what he had just seen. The police officer then quickly called more officers over to our location and my immediate thought was of what happened at the 1996 Summer Olympics where someone planted a bomb in a group of people by leaving a duffle bag. My second thought was "I do NOT want to have to be evacuated NOW!" Just as the police began to gather the man that had left it returned and picked the bag up, with the police keeping a VERY close eye on him as he did it. In fact one officer had his hand on his gun ready to draw it if needed. They took the man out into the concrete area in front of us (directly in front of me) and questioned him, asking things like, "Do you hate the United States Government?" and "Did you hate President Ronald Reagan?" and the man emphatically said no to all of those questions. The police officer asked him if he knew how very stupid it was for him to leave that bag like that at a time like this and the man said he does realize that but wasn't thinking at the time he left it. He told the officer that there was "no bomb" in his bag and it was just clothes. Well, saying that just made things a little worse for the guy. I learned in 1985 or 1986 that one thing you do NOT say to a Capitol Police officer is the word "Bomb" no matter what the context is. But that's another story and will gladly tell it if anyone is interested. Once the man said that the officer instructed him to put the bag on the ground and give him his ID. More questions took place and around that point the 21 gun salute began so I turned my attention back to the reason I was there, i noticed a short time later that the police officer allowed the man and his bag back into the line so I assumed that everything was ok.

 

The Casket was removed from the caisson and carried up the steps of the Capitol and there were a lot of emotions being displayed in the crowd, which had grown to many many thousands by this time. Once the casket was inside the building the Capitol police began to move us up to the building to prepare to go inside. This was at about 7:20 or 7:25 PM. I knew that there was at least an hour before the public would would be allowed in so I knew there was probably still 1½ to 2 hours before I got inside. We got around to the south side of the Capitol and were stopped at the entrance of a small security screening station. There we waited for about 2 hours, one police officer told me that they had already let the first 150 people in so I knew then that I was within the first 200 people in line. In fact, as I was typing this I just remembered that as I passed through the security door there was an officer counting each person that entered. As I walked through he said 40 and then the next was 41 and so on. So I was the 190th person to go through.

 

After clearing the security check point at about 9:30 PM or so we walked around the porch of the Capitol and up the same steps that they had just carried President Reagan up a couple of hours earlier. As we walked in we had a couple more flights of steps to climb until we reached the Rotunda where President Reagan lay in State. The first thing that struck me was the black curtains that decorated the doorway of the Rotunda. What it made me think of was the way the White House had been draped in black when President Lincoln had been killed in 1865. As I entered the Rotunda and saw the flag draped casket being guarded by all of the branches of the U.S. military the weight of the moment really hit me. I moved to the left as I passed through the great hall and I was surprised by how loud the silence was. I know that may sound odd but I don't know any other way to describe it. Everyone was silent as they passed through paying their respects. I also took a mental note of the catafalque, which was first used for President Lincoln in 1865. I'm not sure why, but many things were bringing Lincoln to mind that night.

 

As I left the building I was given the card that is pictured below and I walked down the steps of the Capitol and over to the condolence book wrote a message and signed my name. From there the group of people I was with exchanged email addresses (something I assure you that did NOT happen at President Lincoln's funeral) and since I had not brought my camera (since I was told by the Capitol police that no cameras were permitted and that there would be no check in point to leave your camera's which wasn't true) one of the brothers that I mentioned earlier said he would send me all of the pictures that he took as soon as he got home and could download them from his camera into his computer. Then we all departed on our trips back home.

 

In total I spent approximately 7½ to 8 hours, from around 2 PM to around 10 PM standing in line just so I could walk through the Capitol Rotunda for 60 seconds. I would have gladly stood in line for 16 hours even if only afforded half as many seconds inside so I could pay my respects to a man I have greatly admired for two thirds of my lifetime.

 

handout.jpg

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Very Well Writen VBG.

It Paints The Picture Of Your Trip Perfectly.

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To give a better idea of the locations of the events and where I was I've pulled this picture of the mall out that I made for another thread and added the procession route and location of where I was standing in line. It's much larger then what you see so to get a full size picture click the image.

The_Mall.jpg

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Thanks for shareing that VBG sounds like you had a very intresting day in washington.D.C,that bit about the guy with the bag sounded scary :laugh: i am just glad it was not a bomb,but he did a very stupid thing leaveing a bag like that near a trash can IMO they should have arrested him for it :blink: i watched a bit of it on cnn and i thought it was very moving to see how many ppl turned up to pay there respects,he was truely a great man.

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I thought I'd include another photograph, I took these screen shots from CSPAN and they show the position I was at during my wait in line and give an idea of what my view was.

The_Mall2.jpg

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Thanks for sharing this. I watched for a long time people filing past to pay their respects in California (my mother's home does have cable, and C-span covered a lot of it) but until now I did not have a sense of the process, the wait, that these people, and all of you in DC, had to go through to pay your respects.

 

It was very clearly described, VBG. It makes the reader feel that they were also their (except we can't actually FEEL the heat and humidity...).

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It was very clearly described, VBG. It makes the reader feel that they were also their (except we can't actually FEEL the heat and humidity...).

MJ,

Speak for yourself. I am in Georgia. I feel the heat and humidity quite well. :laugh:

 

VBG,

Seriously, thanks for sharing with us. For those of us who could not make it up to D.C. to pay our respects, it makes us feel like we did.

 

BTW, very well written. :blink:

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Thanks everyone, it was a moving experience for sure. The services on TV were also moving but being present sure does give it more weight and reality.

 

I'd like to read anyone's thoughts on what they saw while they watched any of the services on TV. What impressed, or moved you while you were watching? How much did you watch if any?

 

For me, as most of you probably expected I watched it all. Even the stuff I was in Washington for I watched on tape when I got home. I probably wouldn't have watched all of it like that if it was any other President then Ronald Reagan though.

 

I would like to voice my appreciation for the eulogies delivered by Margaret Thatcher and Brian Mulroney though, I'll never have the chance to make my words known to either of them but what they said on Friday was special and touched many Americans.

 

I never did get back downtown to the museums but I may be back up there next week, so if I do go up there I will be sure to take my camera.

 

Oh yeah, something I forgot to mention earlier. While I was in D.C. I was interviewed a few times. Once by the USA Today newspaper, once by the London Times and once by a Boston Radio station. So if anyone wants an autograph... :look:

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Sounds like you had a great time there VBG. You described it very clearly too.

Thanks for sharing that. :look:

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Very cool, VBG. I would have been there, if duty had permitted. we held our own memorial for President Reagan, but nothing like the one in DC.

 

 

Juse a note: the Ceremonial Gaurd, the servicemen who carried the President's casket, are for the most part, fresh from boot camp/Basic Training/Recruit training. they serve a 1 year tour with the Ceremonial Gaurd in the Washington Military District. it's been said that they practice for this kind of thing alot, because you cannot mess this kind of thing up.

 

 

by the way, did anyone watch Friday's service at the National Cathedral and see Mikhail Gorbachev asking Margeret Thatcher for help reading the program? 20 years ago, who would have believed that one day, those two would sit next to each other, helping each other in such a way?

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all the tickets were basically sold out from Houston. It is very amazing that we can all be united as a nation.

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I'd like to read anyone's thoughts on what they saw while they watched any of the services on TV. What impressed, or moved you while you were watching? How much did you watch if any?
I watched bits and pieces. I watched them moving President Reagan from the funeral home to his repose at the Reagan library. I watched people file past for a couple of hours. I watched the changing of the guard repeatedly.

 

I was travelling on the evening of Wednesday February 9, but while in the Detroit airport, saw bits of the services in the Rotunda during the layover. Because I do not have cable (my mother does, but I do not) I did not watch people filing past to pay their respect in Washington.

 

I watched part of the funeral at the National Cathedral--I was advising students in the morning, and got home before the funeral was over....I came in when our current President Bush was speaking. My mother watched the entire funeral.

 

I watched most of the funeral back in California, but fell asleep before the end. My mother watched the entire funeral.

 

Most of my relatives (extended family) watched the funeral. One aunt was watching people in Simi Valley like I was. She has cable so she probably watched folks in Washington also.

 

None, not one, of my voting relatives voted for Mr. Reagan. We all voted against him twice. All of us.

 

So why watch? Well, that was how we paid our respects. My philosophy about democracy is that whoever gets elected is the President of the United States, not the president of those who voted for him. Mr. Reagan was my president even though he was not my choice, and I did not agree with most of his policies. His passing therefore merits my respect and sober reflection, so I share in the mourning of his loss.

 

For my mother I know part of her focus was compassion for Nancy Reagan, because it has not even been a year and a half since she lost the love of her life, my father, a man she had known since they were both 13 - years - olds. She also listened to all the speeches...but she felt for Mrs. Reagan.

 

The comments my mother and I found most interesting were those of the first President Bush, the fact that President Reagan was able to give him insight into the perspective of the common man. The Bushes are one of America's 'elite' families, and do not know what the average American goes through. He learned a lot from President Reagan. I did not hear these remarks directly, but my mother conveyed them to me.

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Well Reagan was not a common man either..

He was an actor and a very succesful one for that.....

 

anyways...

 

I found that this is one of the few moments that unified this country.

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Ronald Reagan didn't die as a common man, but he did very much begin his life in a "common" family. He was born into a very poor, midwestern family. His father was an alcoholic and his mother a devout Christian. He went to a small town college and grew up in the depression. Yes, he attained high achievements but he was still a "common man".

 

Trust me, he was not born into privilege at all. He earned everything he got. But lets not turn this thread into one of political discussion, lets keep it one about the services from this past week.

 

You said tickets were sold out, what tickets were sold out and to what event were they for?

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I'm glad you made it out of DC in 1 piece. I've driven up there several times for the 4th of July, so I know how crazy it gets (even without cops yelling for you to run!).

 

I grew up in the Reagan Years so I only remember Iran/Contra and the fall of Communism. (Yeah for the latter, nay for former) Looking back Reagan did some good things and some bad things but overall I think he did what he thought was best- and that says alot about a man. He believed in his cause.

 

I don't think the Republican Party should be in charge of a toaster oven, much less our government, but Reagan was a good person and I will sincerely miss him.

 

jefffitz

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What a great experience. I'm glad that you got the opportunity to go and pay your respects to President Reagan. It's definitely been a sad week.

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I commend you on your patriotic spirit VBG

 

 

 

:look:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

:superman: You are a super man :look:

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VBG, I am glad you got to go and pay your respects. It is unfortunate he never knew how highly he was regarded by you. Although I suspect some day you will get the chance to meet him.

 

MJ, your attitude reveals you to be a person of great character and patriotism. I admire that.

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Ronald Reagan didn't die as a common man, but he did very much begin his life in a "common" family. He was born into a very poor, midwestern family. His father was an alcoholic and his mother a devout Christian. He went to a small town college and grew up in the depression. Yes, he attained high achievements but he was still a "common man".

 

Trust me, he was not born into privilege at all. He earned everything he got. But lets not turn this thread into one of political discussion, lets keep it one about the services from this past week.

 

You said tickets were sold out, what tickets were sold out and to what event were they for?

I was talking about plane tickets. Sorry for the misunderstanding

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