SwiftVets.com

[shawa]

"Who's going to win?" a reporter shouted from 50 feet away.
Bush hesitated a moment and said, "The United States of America."

This story just makes you feel good!!

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/sports/10343778.htm

Bush in Phila. as a football fan
On his first Pa. postelection visit, he thanked Army and Navy players for their service.

By Thomas Fitzgerald

Inquirer Staff Writer


He lost Philadelphia by 390,000 votes, the bluest patch in a state colored Democratic blue on electoral maps, but President Bush found a spot of red - and a thunderous welcome - at Lincoln Financial Field yesterday for the Army-Navy football game.

One of the most storied rivalries in sports was overshadowed by the war in Iraq, as Bush paid homage to the young warriors from the U.S. Military Academy and the Naval Academy who may find themselves fighting there soon - and to alumni who have already given their lives.

Air Force One flew over the stadium and dipped its wing in salute on its way into Philadelphia International Airport for the President's 45th visit to Pennsylvania, his first since winning reelection.

"Listen, good luck today," Bush told the Army team kneeling in ranks in the visitors' locker room before the game. "I know you're going to play hard, but I'm here to tell you thanks for serving your country. I'm proud that you decided to serve the great United States of America. We need your character; we need your class. God bless you all."

Navy won, 42-13, finishing the regular season with nine wins for the first time since 1963.

When Bush visited the Navy locker room, he walked through a doorway framed by jerseys of three former players killed in Iraq: Ron Winchester, J.P. Blecksmith and Scott Zellem.

It took a moment for people in the stands to realize who the distant figure in the blue overcoat was when Bush appeared on the Navy sideline an hour before game time, surveying the players limbering up, but the crowd of nearly 70,000 roared when his image flashed on the jumbo TV screens.

"God bless you, Mr. President!" a group of fans shouted as he walked through the east end zone to visit the Army side.

It was a day of pageantry rather than politics.

"Who's going to win?" a reporter shouted from 50 feet away. Bush hesitated a moment and said, "The United States of America."

Just before Bush walked to midfield for the coin toss, a dozen sky divers from both branches of the service landed on the field.

A squadron of Navy F-14s - the "Puking Dogs" of Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia - boomed over the stadium, followed by seven clattering Apache helicopter gunships from the Army.

The commander-in-chief spent the first half on the Army side, sitting in Section 121, Row 31, Seat 14, surrounded by injured soldiers. He was accompanied by his brother Marvin; Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.), a Naval Academy graduate; Sen. Zell Miller (D., Ga.); Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi; chief of staff Andrew H. Card Jr.; and political aide Karl Rove.

At halftime, as tradition dictates, Bush moved to the Navy side of the field. He was escorted through a cordon of cadets and midshipmen by Lt. Gen. William Lennox, who handed him off to Vice Adm. Rodney Rempt in a flurry of saluting.

Bush then sat through the third quarter in Section 102, Row 25, Seat 22, before leaving to fly back to Washington.

The President also attended the Army-Navy game at Veterans Stadium in 2001, less than three months after the Sept. 11 attacks, shortly after the U.S. military attacked al-Qaeda and its Taliban allies in Afghanistan.

"It's great to see the President here," said John Gunerman, 21, a senior at the Naval Academy. "He's a solid leader with strong morals and values."

Gunerman, of Cazenovia, N.Y., will serve on destroyers, but he said the possibility of serving in Iraq was never far from the minds of midshipmen.

"People sign up for this job knowing that is part of it," he said. "We didn't come here to sit behind a desk, but to go into harm's way."


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[Bystander]

Ya gotta love this classy guy!
_________________
No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
..................................Eleanor Roosevelt

[srmorton]

Great story! At least the Dems can't accuse him of going to the game
for political reasons, although I would not be surprised if they did. He
went to show his appreciation to these young athletes who have chosen
a career path that may soon put them in harm's way.

The lives of some of these young players may be cut short just as a
young Marine's was last Saturday in Iraq. The 20 year old Lance
Corporal was a childhood friend of my daughter's boyfriend, who served
six years in the USMC, including several months in the Iraq war. He
served as a pall bearer for his fallen friend. My daughter had never
been to a funeral with full military honors and she was very moved by
the experience. It made her so proud to be an American and so proud
of her boyfriend's military service.

That young Marine did not die in vain. He died to protect all that we as
Americans hold dear and to further the cause of freedom in the world.
His life was very brief, but very meaningful.

Semper Fi, Junior. Rest in peace.
_________________
Susan R. Morton