D.C. Chapter Invited to Meet President Bush at White House Troop Support Event (Photos)

Front: Angelwood, tgslTakoma; debm29palms. Middle: Kristinn, Flib, Mr. Trooprally, ponsdorf. Back: Laura Youngblood.

Members of the D.C. Chapter of FreeRepublic.com were invited to the White House today for an event for troop support organizations with President Bush. Other groups included Vets for Freedom (in the beige polo shirts), Families United for Our Troops and Their Mission (in the red polos shirts), Move America Forward, Gathering of Eagles, the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars.

It was a beautiful and moving day. The President spent what seemed like two hours meeting with everyone who wanted to speak with him. There were many Gold and Blue Star parents there who wanted to tell the President they still support the mission.

During the President's speech, the crowd erupted in to a loud, boisterous chant of "USA! USA! USA!" Yep, the Freeper table started it, LOL!

THE PRESIDENT: Thanks for coming. Laura and I are honored to welcome you here to the South Lawn. Welcome to the people's house. (Applause.) First, I'd like to thank Katy Benko for singing the national anthem. It's not only a beautiful morning to sing the national anthem, it's a beautiful setting in which to sing the national anthem. Katy's husband, Ryan, is deployed to Iraq. Katy, make sure you email him and tell him how appreciative we are of your service, and tell him how appreciative all of us are of your voice. (Applause.)

Laura and I want to thank the members of our -- my administration for joining us. Mr. Vice President, we're really thrilled you're here. Thank you for coming, sir. (Applause.) Secretary of State Condi Rice is with us today. Madam Secretary, appreciate you being here. (Applause.) Secretary Jim Nicholson of the Veterans Affairs Administration; thanks for coming, Jim. (Applause.)

For you veterans who are here, there is no more solemn obligation by your government to make sure you have all it takes to -- for your health care, and for your support. I feel a very strong obligation, since it was my decision that committed young men and women into combat, to make sure our veterans who are coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan get all the help this government can possibly provide. (Applause.)

I appreciate the Secretary of the Army, Pete Geren, for joining us; the Secretary of the Navy, Don Winter; General "Hoss" Cartwright, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and his wife Sandee. By the way, General Cartwright is a Marine. (Applause.) I'm not playing to the crowd or anything. (Laughter.)

I want to welcome members of this crowd who have lost a loved one in this war against terror. Our hearts go out to you. We love you. The best way to honor the sacrifices that your loved one made, as well as the sacrifice you have made, is to accomplish the mission, is to achieve the peace. (Applause.)

Laura and I welcome the families who have got a loved one overseas, whether it be in Iraq or Afghanistan, fighting these extremists and terrorists. The best way to honor your loved one is to make sure that he or she has the full support of the United States government as you accomplish the mission that we have set. (Applause.) By the way, for the loved ones here, I fully understand the best way to sustain a volunteer army is to make sure you're happy -- (laughter) -- is to make sure you've got good housing; to make sure that you've got good health care; to make sure that you understand that we know that you're in this fight along with your husband or wife or son or daughter. And that's exactly how this administration feels. (Applause.)

For the veterans who are here, for those of you who are veterans in Iraq and Afghanistan, thank you for volunteering in the face of danger. (Applause.) And for the people who aren't veterans yet, still remain on active duty, thanks for wearing the uniform of the greatest country on the face of the Earth. We're proud of you. (Applause.)

I want to thank the service organizations and those who have come together to support our families and our troops. I can't tell you how important it is for organizations like the Vets for Freedom or the VFW or the American Legion and other groups to -- Gold Star Mothers, got you, okay, thank you -- Blue Star Mothers, Gold Star Mothers, all the mothers, yes. (Applause.) Every day is Mother's Day as far as your concerned, isn't it? (Laughter.)

THE PRESIDENT: And the dads, yes. I knew this was going to happen. (Laughter.) Yes, the wives; okay, fine. (Laughter.) Everybody is supporting our troops. I want to thank you for doing it. (Applause.)

It's important people hear from you. It's important people hear your voice. And I want to thank you for organizing. I want to thank you not only for the grassroots support of our families, I want to thank you for going up to Capitol Hill. And here's a message I hope you deliver: The Commander-in-Chief wants to succeed -- (applause) -- and the Commander-in-Chief takes seriously the recommendations of our military commanders. General Petraeus came back to the United States to deliver the recommendations he made to me. Inherent in his recommendations is, one, his belief we're succeeding, his belief we will succeed, and I ask the United States Congress to support the troop levels and the strategies I have embraced. (Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. When the history books are finally written about this chapter in the war against extremists and radicals, they will recognize certain truths: one, that we recognize that if we were to retreat from the Middle East the enemy would not be content to remain where they are, but they would follow us here. We recognize that the best way to protect our homeland is to defeat an enemy overseas so we do not have to face them here on the streets of America. And we recognize that liberty is powerful, that liberty will yield the peace that we want for generations to come; that will recognize that this generation of Americans did the hard work now, so that future generations could live in security and peace.

And so on this beautiful morning we thank you for your steadfast resolve, we appreciate your support of those brave souls who have volunteered in the face of the danger. We ask for God's blessings on the families and our troop in harm's way. And we thank you from the bottom of our collective hearts. God bless you all. (Applause.)

Several of you have requested more details of the White House Breakfast with President Bush and the other movers and shakers in his time in office. This report is from [Mrs] Trooprally and my perspective. Hopefully the other FReepers who were there will write them comments, especially if I get something wrong.

I also need to preface this Report. CJ, FReeper chcknhawk, was at Walter Reed Friday night and related his story of seeing the President a few days earlier. He was able to sit down with the President in small groups of 15 or so. I didn't expect that type of meeting because I figured about 50 of us would be there. Kristinn said that he had 5 slots for FReeRepublic. The other groups were filling their slots, which I assumed were equally small. Instead there were about 600+ of us on the South Lawn having a real good Continental Breakfast. There were 300 or so alone from Vets for Freedom.

The groups invited were those who had people going to meet representatives on Capitol Hill this week. FReeRepublic got only 5 slots. The President gave a pep talk for our visits.

Our story begins last Thursday with a call from Kristinn asking if we wanted to see the President on Tuesday. Of course!!! Kristinn also said not to say anything to anyone in case it didn't happen. We must have looked the cat that choked on a canary when at Walter Reed. We were bursting at the seams to tell some of our FReepers friends. Sorry guys/gals.

Kristinn - A heartfelt Thanks for asking us.

Final word came Monday that we would be going. We hitched a ride with tgslTakoma and Kristinn. We arrived at the East Gate a little after 7 AM. First we went through an informal check of our IDs. At the interior fence, we went through the metal detectors. No problem there.

But we were relieved of the items we brought for the President. We had one of the buttons from GoE III (It proudly had FReeRepublic.com on it) and one of the Olney Sign Collage Mouse Pads. We also had a picture of our son shaking hands with General Pace's in Iraq. We were hoping to have the President sign it for us. The Secret Service did get our name and address so hopefully we'll get the picture back with the President's signature on it.

Now we were expecting a small crowd to meet the President IN the White House. We were surprised when we were directed to the South Lawn where the tables were set. We were dressed for inside temperatures. The upper 50 degree temps quickly chilled everyone there and the coffee was the "hot" item for everyone. The sun peeked over the trees about 8:30 and the air warmed up a little.

We meet several other FReepers there and we all sat together. We had a great table since we got there early, right on the center isle and about 50 feet from where the President was to talk. We had a great group, joking and reminiscing about Friday's Walter Reed FReep and GoE III. As Kristinn wrote, FReepers, more particularly Flib, started the "USA, USA, USA" chant.

We also kept the MSM in line. Twenty minutes before the President came out, the media moved in with their cameras and lights. They set up in the middle of the 20 wide center isle and soon started to spread out. They blocked the view of us and everyone behind us. [Mrs] Trooprally got up several times and corralled them back into the center. There were several cat calls of "AP go home" from someone in a cowboy hat. Eventually they got the hint and stayed in the center behind their cameras.

The President's speech was fairly short but rousing. The plan for the morning was for the President to visit every table after he finished. He went over to the first table to shake hands of those there and suddenly everyone swarmed him. It took the Secret Service several minutes to get through the crowd to put a loose protective circle around him and Vice President Cheney.

One of the first to make it to the President were Gold Star wives Deborah (Debm29palms) and Laura. They both got a hug and kisses from him and had their husband's picture sign by him. Angelwood, Flib and tgslTakoma were also able to make it up to him. Not sure what they got. Kristinn was one of the last to shake the President's hand and thank him for staying the course. He also gave VP Cheney a FR button.

Unfortunately, [Mrs] Trooprally and myself never made it up to either the President or Vice President. The crowd was large and pressing so we decided to take the White House walk-about first, letting the crowds shrink a little. What we did not know was that the WH walk-about was a one way walk to the exit. We could not get back to the South Lawn. One of the biggest bummers in our life. It doesn't get much worst that this.

We did get to talk to, and hug, Condi Rice and talk to Karen Hughes. We could not find General Petraeus. So it was not a complete wash out. We did get some memorable pictures and had a real enjoyable time.

We did get to see one important "person" that others didn't see. It was the President's new puppy.

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