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.)

Great report trooprally (and Mrs.). It was so awesome to be standing on the South Lawn of the White House with you all on Tuesday.

I’ll add a few of my observations here.

It was a beautiful, crisp morning and I found myself outside the SE entrance to the White House at just about 7:30 a.m. I knew that 5 of us from Free Republic would be joining a number of other members of troop support groups, but we were given no details about what type of event we would be attending or who would be present. Of course, we all hoped the Commander-in-Chief would be there.

Kristinn met me outside the security station because the trooprallys and tgslTakoma had already entered the grounds. There was a short wait to go through the metal detectors and have purses and bags searched. Then we were being directed and greeted by military and staff members who were standing along the walk at varied distances on either side. The staff members were all wearing a placard on their security tags that stated, “BREAKFAST ON THE SOUTH LAWN, September 18, 2007.” That was the first inkling that it was a breakfast event.

On the outer edges of the South Lawn area, tents and buffet stations were set up with picnic tables spread out to cover the area. The tables were covered with red and white checked tablecloths and pretty baskets of flowers. It was quite colorful and lovely. The area was already full of excited people, most of whom were wearing beige or red golf shirts.

I quickly found tgslTakoma, Mr. and Mrs. trooprally and other friends and they had found a table in the center close to the front. We took some photos with the White House in the background. (Don’t you know that we had to have proof that FReepers were there!)

The breakfast food was simple, but very good. There were mini croisants, biscuits with cream cheese or jelly, blueberry muffins, cinnamon coffee cake, ham inside a roll, fresh fruit and a few other items that I don’t recall at this moment in time. Close to the buffet tents were coffee and orange juice stations. The coffee cups were disposable, but had the Presidential Seal on them and there were cocktail napkins with a seal also — very nice souvenirs.

While everyone ate and socialized with one another, a military band played. The band was positioned on the second floor balcony. They were extremely good and the audience was appreciative.

We figured that the President would be joining us at some point, but we knew for sure when a nice fellow came to our table with cards that we needed to fill out. These cards would have our name, address, phone number and description of our physical appearance that day. They were to be handed in if we were so fortunate as to be close enough to the President for the White House Photographer to snap our picture. We eagerly filled out the cards and hoped.

At 8:20 a.m., they closed the gate to any more guests. At about 8:35 a.m., they opened the gate or door to wherever they keep the press and let them in to set up. A podium was set up with a clear view from our table. Unfortunately, the press kept spreading out into what we determined to be our space where we could get a great photo of the President and Mrs. Bush. We kept reminding the members of the press to move out of our way — especially since they were biased and they weren’t going to report on this event anyway! I believe it was Kelly O’Donnell (redhead) who was not happy to be told to move — but she did.

The band played again and at 9:00 a.m. the President and the First Lady were announced. It was such a thrill to see them walking to the podium and be so close to us. Then W introduced Katy Benko and she sang a beautiful rendition of the National Anthem without accompaniment.

The President introduced and pointed out some of his cabinet members who had joined the group and sat at various tables nearby. The Administration officials included Condi Rice and Vice President Dick Cheney. Then the President began a short speech thanking everyone for their support of the troops and urging us to relay our support to our Congressmen and Senators. A large number of those present at the Breakfast had appointments on the Hill.

The President’s message was well received by a cheering crowd. And, even as we could hear an announcement asking us to stay in our seats, the President was surrounded by a mass of polite people who wanted to hug him, shake his hand, get a photo with him, or just thank him for his strength and leadership in the war on terror.

I couldn’t get near the crush of people by President Bush, so I joined the circle surrounding Vice President Cheney. People were everywhere, but they were in a good mood and helpful to those who were shorter or disabled or had children with them. I waited my turn and was almost next to VP Cheney when he noticed an older fellow with a badge indicating he was from Wyoming. VP Cheney started talking to him and the man introduced himself. As it turned out, the Vice President told him, “I remember you. You were 3 years ahead of me in school.” And then they reminisced for a couple of minutes more. Then it was my turn and a friendly guy took a photo of me with VP Cheney. I told Mr. Cheney that I was with Free Republic and we were the group who told Al Gore to “GET OUT OF CHENEY’S HOUSE.” I hardly got the words out when the next person stepped in to talk to him and have her photo taken.

The number of people surrounding President Bush had diminished slightly, so I began to work my way through the line. I got within about 3 rows and could see him clearly, but was too short to get a good photo. The friendly guy who took the photo of me with VP Cheney was right beside me and offered to help again. He was much taller and got some good shots.

It took awhile, but I did get to the front and was able to talk to President Bush. Seeing him greeting the wives and parents of soldiers who gave up their lives in service to our country was pretty emotional. I almost felt like I shouldn’t have been there taking up his time that should more properly be spent with each family member.

Then, it seemed sudden, he turned toward me and put his arm around me and kissed my cheek. And I kissed his cheek and gave him a firm hug. As I was thanking him for his strong leadership and steadfast courage, he was thanking me for supporting the troops. My new friend’s son took a picture of me with the President. I worked my way out of the crowd so others could take my place. It was an awesome experience that I will never forget.

I took a breather from the crowds and looked around for other FReepers. I found Mrs. trooprally. She and I were talking when we saw Karen Hughes walking toward us with another woman. She graciously stopped to talk to us and then posed with us for a photo.

I wanted to see if Condi Rice was still on the grounds, but couldn’t find her. Instead, I found a cluster of people in front of a big tree near the White House. When I checked out what was happening, I found that Laura Bush was talking to people and posing for photos. I joined the group and waited to see her. I let a group of children in front of me and Mrs. Bush hugged them all before getting the photo taken. She was very gracious and beautiful in person. I gave her a hug and thanked her as another kind stranger took a photo of us both.

Afterwards, I walked back toward the picnic table where the group had breakfast. I could see that the President still had layers of people surrounding him, but the Secret Service had established a rope line and some order to the crowd. The Vice President also had some space around him with a definitive line of people waiting to see him.

I kept walking and found tgslTakoma sitting at one of the perimeter picnic tables. We sat together for awhile enjoying the beautiful day, the company, our photos and personal stories. The trooprallys had gone inside for the White House tour and Kristinn was in line to see the President.

As the crowd dwindled, we decided to take the tour. There was a sign at the entrance to the White House stating that once inside no one could go back to the South Lawn. So tgslTakoma and I walked through the White House. We were allowed to take photos inside and take our time walking through this historic mansion. The exit was out the usual tour entrance.

As I sit here writing a report of the day, I am still in awe that I was fortunate enough to be invited to the White House and able to meet President Bush, Laura Bush and Vice President Cheney.

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