Monday, December 8, 2008

The President, The Corps, and the Brigade

We spent Saturday at one of the few places left where a stadium full of people would enthusiastically cheer President Bush -- at the annual Army-Navy football game with the Corps, the Brigade, and their many families and supporters.

And cheer they did. It was very affecting when the Army cheerleaders surrounded and hugged the President, though I'm sure it made the Secret Service a bit nervous. He obviously returned the cadets' affection.


Robert Gates was there too (far left in the picture above). Before the game started, Air Force One buzzed the stadium while the Corps was doing its march-on, and waggled its wings over the field. That's actually cooler than it sounds -- George C. Scott captures the impression pretty well:

After that about 10 Army and Navy parachutists dropped spectacularly onto the field.


And then Navy jets and Army helicopters also buzzed the field.


So, not your typical football game. For Army fans, the pregame was a lot better than the game.

People who know me know I am anything but a football fan; the main attraction for me was the chance to see my favorite plebe, who is doing just fine. West Point ain't Disneyland, as they say, but he is taking its rigors in stride. And he looks great in gray.

3 comments:

Preston said...

Thanks for the report. I watched some of the game, such as it was, on the TV. I thought the Army uniforms were the best ever! I hadn't seen them before. No question which school they represented.

David Wharton said...

The uniforms were brand new. My plebe told me the cadets got a briefing on them last week from Nike representatives. Nike also supplied the camo hats that the cadets wore during the game.

Rebecka VanderVeen said...

I LOVE hearing about Sam! Thanks for the great update!