Ventura County - Reagan's Welcome Home After Action Report

[Rabid Dog]

Just got back from seeing Reagan's motorcade leaving Pt. Mugu and getting on the freeway. I think thousands of people must have turned out. The road was lined with people for a stretch of over 8 miles. I was on the exit onto the freeway. There were at least 600 people along the exit alone. The motorcade is heading south on 101 and evidently every overpass has people on it waving flags. can't wait to hear from the other FReepers!!!

[Rabid Dog]

Report in when you get home!!

[go star go]

This is great. I'm glad to see our greatest President ever getting his due. America never ceases to amaze.

[VOA]

bump for publicity

[rocky88]

makes me think... how can W NOT win CA???

[apackof2]

I have been watching on Fox News plus taping
The outpouring of respect and affection from my fellow Americans has been so moving

[ladyinred]

Lucky you! We want to hear more.

[cwb]

I heard an estimate from the department of transportation via CNN that they were expecting up to 300,000 people to line the streets. Larry King has repeatedly said he has never seen anything like it.

[Rabid Dog]

I don't have TV access - I hope that there is some kind of coverage regarding the turn out. It was absolutely incredible. Evidently it was 5 & 6 people deep at some parts of the road leading out from Pt. Mugu.


I was standing next to this guy who looked like a total gangbanger - tatoo on the back of his neck, jailhouse tatoos on his calves, tatoos all over his back and arms. He was with his wife and kid. He was a big Reagan supporter. He wouldn't have been old enough to vote for him but I sure hope he votes for Bush.

I know the reception for him when he gets off the freeway will be even more spectacular. And I hear that the burial service has been opened up - lots of celebrities, etc. are at the library right now. Over 1,500 newspeople.

[ALOHA RONNIE]

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RONNIE gave all = We have it all

http://www.TheAlamoFILM.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=52519


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[cwb]

"I was standing next to this guy who looked like a total gangbanger - tatoo on the back of his neck, jailhouse tatoos on his calves, tatoos all over his back and arms. He was with his wife and kid. He was a big Reagan supporter."

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Besides the large turnouts, I think this is what most surprises the media. As I've listened to some say that Reagan's America was not for the poor, Hispanic, Black, etc., it is many of those very people who are turning out to pay their respects.

From a group of Hell's Angels to an Indian Tribal Chief to blacks and hispanics...the media has sorely under-estimated RWR's appeal to almost all but the most synical of (liberal) Americans. Ronald Reagan was America...and as Bernard Shaw (CNN) seems to now be admitting, they were wrong.

[Waco]

There' nothing like a Reagan to exemplify a Jimmie Carter's sorryness.

[Moonmad27]

Long Post Warning! I was there on Las Posas between the Target center and the fire station by Camarillo airport. All day I'd wondered about the logistics of getting there through traffic from Ventura and the parking, but I was able to drive to the Target/Home Depot parking lot with absolutely no trouble from the 101. It was like an exodus or one of those scenes from the movies, where everyone was parking, getting out of their cars and streaming toward Las Posas from all parts of the parking lot. There were people of (as the saying goes) all races, creeds and colors, and all in such a positive mood. Right after I arrived, and started talking to a lady with a foreign accent and a Hispanic gentleman who worked at Point Mugu, Air Force One flew very low and very, very slowly over the 101 grade and the mountains westward to Pt Mugu. Amazing how it can fly that slowly (have seen AF1 with GWB on it, flying over the grade a couple years ago and it was a gorgeous sight then, too). The land there is so flat, you could watch it getting very near to landing, even from a few miles off.

Lots of waiting and talking to the nice folks in line, including a guy who lived on a ranch, an enthusiastic Republican types and one guy who seemed a little Dem-ish.

For awhile the police had kept us at the white line at the edge of the four lane road, but right before the procession reached us, the police must have given the signal for us to move forward one lane. Everyone surged forward and took their new places. I thought that decision to narrow the route and let us get closer to the motorcade was very considerate.

The motorcade went by fairly slowly, and people next to me were trying to identify people in the limousins. Someone thought Condi Rice was in one of the cars. When I saw the flag draped casket in that hearse, it was a shock. I thought about how that very casket has become an icon that has been during this week, and will be for years to come. It was amazing to think it had been in the Cathedral this morning, and here it was just a few feet in front of us.

After the motorcade passed, the crowd applauded the motorcycle police who rode by. The firemen standing on the firetruck at the corner were still saluting, and everyone was extremely impressed with their gesture.

I wouldn't have missed that experience for the world.

One question, did that second hearse have flags on it? Someone at work had seen a hearse with flags leaving the nearby mortuary and he wondered if it was going to Pt Mugu.

[Rabid Dog]

Great report Moonmad27!! There weren't any flags on the second hearst (and there was also a second hearst when then motorcade went to Pt. Mugu for the trip to DC). I'm wondering if it is backup in case there is a breakdown with the first hearst.

[sionnsar]

Watched it on the telly (first time in months I turned it on). MANY thousands of people lining the route.

[CyberAnt]

C-SPAN said they were going to have videos of all the events. Not sure how much of the motorcade will be recorded.

[Bernard Marx]

If my image posting skills work out, here are some shots from my vantage point on Las Posas near the junction with Hueneme Road.

I've never been around a more orderly and courteous crowd. Everyone was considerate, even in the traffic free-for-all at the end, and my wife and I made several new friends while waiting for the procession. People were lined up on both sides of the road as far as I could see each way. I was tuned to KNX and heard Air Force 1 had just made a pass over the Reagan Library. I looked off to the northeast and sure enough, here it came, gear-down.

The procession was upon us quickly but I managed to grab a few shots of both it and the hearse. I didn't realize it as it was passing but the flag-draped coffin is clearly visible. Let's see how the image posting goes...I'll try just one at first, the crowd where I was located about an hour before the procession. There were lots more later.

[Bernard Marx]

Okay, that worked. Here are some others.

[capitan_refugio]

Rabid - it was my understanding the the hearse at the rear of the procession was a back-up vehicle. The paramedic was in case anyone in the procession fell ill.

I brought the family out (most of them at least, eldest daughter was with friends down near the base. They watched the 747 fly in right over them.)

The 747 on approach was majestic. I've seen AF1 before, when Bush41 came to Edwards for a shuttle landing. Somehow, this flight transcended any I had seen before.

We were about half way down Los Posas toward the airport fire station. The firemen there had deployed two ladder trucks with a huge flag joining the "broken arch." Fire trucks from all over southern California were along the route in respect to the late President.

My daughter was thrilled when the motorcade went past and Mrs. Reagan waved at their flags and signs. We witnessed a little bit of history today. I don't know if we will ever again have a President play such an important world-wide role. Certainly, the present Mr. Bush is making heroic efforts, but it is too early to tell what history may say of our time.

From my perspective, looking back north toward the freeway, there must have been over 2,000 people on Las Posas, from Pleasant Valley to the 101. I didn't hear anyone say a single bad thing about Mr. Reagan. He is now one for the ages.

[capitan_refugio]

Thank you for those photos.