Posted on 10/14/2006 4:40:07 PM PDT by silent_jonny
Today, President Bush and Mrs. Bush joined Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in Arlington, Virginia for the dedication of the U.S. Air Force Memorial.
Also in attendance were Chairman of the Air Force Memorial Foundation, Ross Perot Jr.; Secretary of the Air Force Michael Wynne; Chief of Staff of the Air Force, General T. Michael Moseley; Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force Rodney McKinley; Secretary of Veterans Affairs James Nicholson and Major General Edward F. Grillo (USAF retired) President of the Air Force Memorial Foundation.
Click here for a complete transcript of GWB’s speech.
Later, President Bush delivered a short statement about North Korea to the press on the South Lawn of the White House before he returned to Camp David.
Enjoy your Saturday visit to Sanity Island
Quote of the Day:
President Bush: A soldier can walk the battlefields where he once fought; a Marine can walk the beaches he once stormed; but an airman can never visit the patch of sky he raced across on a mission to defend freedom. And so it's fitting that, from this day forward, the men and women of the Air Force will have this memorial, a place here on the ground that recognizes their achievements and sacrifices in the skies above.
Photo of the Day:
Good evening!
Good evening!
I can't believe this.....
The Pres was great today :)
And Sunshine55 is right on your heels--you get a toaster too :)
The first 40-foot section of a 270-foot spire was set into place Feb. 10 2006. This was the first of 15 sections that make the three spires of the memorial.
The memorial, which cost more than $30 million, is the work of James Ingo Freed, who designed Washington's U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. The U.S. Air Force Memorial will honor the millions of men and women in the service and its predecessor organizations, memorial spokesman Richard Baker said …The foundation was created in 1992 to promote a memorial for those who served in the Air Force and earlier organizations, including the Army Air Corps and Army Air Force. About 54,000 airmen have been killed in action, the Air Force said.
The memorial's three spires, which rise vertically and gradually curve outwards, are intended to evoke the maneuver performed by the Air Force's Thunderbird flight demonstration team called the ``bomb burst.'' (source: Bloomberg.com )
The Memorial as seen at night.
The three spires also represent the three core values of the Air Force—integrity first, service before self, and excellence in all that is done—and the Air Force’s total force: active, guard and reserve.Embedded in granite beneath the three central spires is the Air Force "star," which has long been emblazoned on Air Force aircraft and serves as the rank insignia of every enlisted member of the Air Force. Other key elements of the Memorial include a Runway to Glory at the site entrance, a bronze Honor Guard statue developed by the renowned sculptor, Zenos Frudakis, two granite inscription walls located at either end of the central lawn and a Glass Contemplation Wall that honors fallen airmen. The Memorial’s surrounding spaces will be landscaped to create a memorial park and parade ground … (source: AirForceMemorial.org
Granite Inscription Wall
WOW 1 sec apart....and I had just came off the Wiggles site and there was the Dose ping...
Frudakis inspects his work at the Memorial.
President Bush finds his place on the stage. 
Ross Perot Jr. joins President Bush and Secretary Rumsfeld.
My dad would have loved this Memorial....he was in when it was just called the Army Air Corp(when they flew by the seat of their pants) until his death in 1960....
Secretary Rumsfeld speaks at the dedication ceremony, the Washington Monument in the background.
President Bush and Chairman of the Air Force Memorial Foundation Ross Perot Jr. (2nd L) shake hands during the dedication ceremony for the new United States Air Force Memorial near the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, October 14, 2006.
President Bush: I have spent a lot of time with the aviators, and one thing about them that has always struck me, aviators, by their nature, are optimistic people. It takes an optimist to climb into a steel tube, race through the sky at 1,500 miles an hour heading toward danger, and expect to return home safely. Yet this is precisely what the men and women of the Air Force do for our country every day.America is grateful for your service, and I'm proud to be the Commander-in-Chief of such fine men and women. (Applause.)
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