The Reagan Public Viewing- Freeper Thoughts

I just got back from a twenty four hour trip to Washington, D.C. to pay my respects to the great President Ronald Reagan. I was the 40th person from the general public to enter the Rotunda and see the flag-draped casket with my own eyes. Here are a few of my thoughts from the day:

I arrived into DC at 1015 am from Atlanta, and dropped my bag by the hotel and headed for the Capitol on the Metro from Pentagon City. When I got to the line area it was about 11:10 and there were about 30 people ahead of me. I called Kristinn of the DC Chapter and gave him a heads-up on what was going on at the head of the line.

We were right on the Reflecting pool (20 feet back) facing the Capitol steps where Reagans casket was to be carried into the Rotunda. The Mall and the Washington monument was behind us.

Georgia was well represented in the first 30, there were two families and myself, so we had 8 of the first 35 or so people in line. The people around me in the line were all great— a couple from NC that had driven overnight to get there, and was driving back overnight, and a number of groups of 2-3 people that were all there like I was as “something that we just had to do”.

As noon passed, the sun got hot, and the water deliveries started coming, they dropped off 150,000 bottles of water along the street and started distributing to the crowd. At this point I took off my jacket and tie, to put it on later.

As an example of the goodness of conservatives, one man ordered 30 or more Domino’s pizzas at about 1:30 and proceeded to hand them out to the people in the line, one pizza per 4-5 people. He got a great cheer. The line really didn’t grow much at this point, only up to about 100-150 people by 3:00. But we speculated that people were lining up for the procession on Constitution Ave due to occur starting at 6pm.

As we were recalling our favorite Reagan stories, and comparing the parallels between Bush 43 and Reagan, one of the people next to me said “Why are those people running away from the Capitol?” We figured that there was something they were running to see, but two minutes later the Capitol police started yelling at us to “RUN AND GET AWAY NOW”, some asked what’s going on , they said, “WE WERE TOLD TO EVACUATE AND THAT’s WHAT WE’RE DOING—RUN AND LEAVE YOUR STUFF.” People moved fast yet stopping to help people who needed assistance, and when we got a few blocks away, someone heard that there was an Unidentified Plane that was in restricted airspace in the vicinity of the Capitol”.

A few minutes later, the ALL CLEAR was given and we all got back to our positions in line without incident, a few butted in, but they were moved back to the end of the line. But it added some excitement.

At 4:50 we were all listening on the radio of the person right behind me in line who it turned out later was one of the Speechwriters for Margaret Thatcher, and who was loaned to Ronald Reagan to collaborate on a speech for Reagan. This guy was quite interesting and had met both Thatcher and Reagan on numerous occasions. Anyway, I digress. We heard on the radio that the President’s body had arrived at Andrews and was to be brought in for the procession due to start at 6pm.

The line was now about 1000 people long and I talked to Kristinn on the phone who was set up to watch the Funeral procession on Constitution Ave. He said that there were people 6 and 10 deep along the procession route. I could see swarms of people over near the route. The general feeling was a somber celebration of the life of Ronald Reagan, a man who changed our lives.

There were police everywhere and secret service types in plain clothes watching everyone. One man set his bag down and walked ten feet away and they were on him checking ID and the bag within a minute. He was still being radioed in and checked out ten minutes later. They were taking no chances.

THE FLYOVER at about 640pm was AWESOME. It happened right above us. A single jat streaked in from the South at about 1000 feet altitude (really low), followed by four groups of four jets in formation spaced about 20 seconds apart. The fifth group of four jets streaked in and one of the four pulled into a climb almost straight up until he disappeared into the haze of heaven. The 21 had their “missing man” depart. Fitting and awe-inspiring.

A few minutes later, we saw the caisson arrive at the foot of the steps of the Capitol and the riderless horse was behind it. I wish I could have seen that close up, but I had made my choice to be in line for the Rotunda. They carried the casket up the steps with Honor guards lining the sides of the stairs. At this point, they started moving us up towards the Capitol, and through Security. We were listening to the funeral speech when we had to throw the radio away (security).

They made us check our cameras (to be returned on the other side) and turn off cell phones. Then we walked another couple hundred yards and we went through a bank of ten-twelve metal detecros, then we were walked up to the Capitol West veranda to the front of the Rotunda.

I then got to stand in the most amazing place for almost an hour while the funeral ended and the room was readied for visitors. I was standing on the edge of the veranda, right in front of the entrance to the Rotunda. Facing the Mall, the sun set over Washington. We all had the same thought- “the shining city on the hill”.

The view was unbelievable and the same as that seen by Ronald Reagan when he was the first to be inaugurated on this side of the Capitol “facing America”. I was moved by that view. People around me in line were saying prayers for America and President Reagan and President Bush from that spot. I read JeffHead’s words that I had carried with me for him.

At this point we were all lined up, and I counted my position in line, I was #40—and Ronald Reagan was our fortieth President. I remember thinking I am glad I wasn’t #42. (that was Margaret Thatcher’s speechwriter but I didn’t tell him). At 9:20 or so the door to the Capitol opened. And we were admitted.

A chaplain in white gloves greeted us and I shook his hand and thanked him for taking good care of President Reagan. Then a minute later I was in the Rotunda with the flag-draped casket. I was only in there for about two minutes, but that was enough. My thoughts in that room were that a Great Man was gone, that there were few like him in my lifetime, and that we could have used his voice so much these past ten years as he withered from his disease.

But the thing I took from this day and from this man was his ETERNAL OPTIMISM-, the fact that America is great because people are basically great when unshackled and allowed to live in Freedom. And the American system is what makes that possible.

My Account:

I went down to the street to see the procession in front of the US Courthouse. The crowd was approximately 10-15 people deep as far as I could see, with a wide cross-section of America waiting with me on that curb. Many parents held children on their shoulders, and some came in shorts and others in business suits, and still others in military uniform. Cadets from the military academies paraded by, the muffled drums beating a somber accompaniment. Then, faintly at first, I could hear the clip-clopping of horses' hooves. Straining above the crowd, I could make out the caisson in the distance, a few blocks away. As it drew near, it was drowned out by the sound of jets approaching. As the riderless horse was led by, Reagan's own brown cavalry boots turned backwards in the stirrups, the 21-ship flyover began... ending with the missing man formation, the single jet climbing into the sky. Perhaps it sounds sacrilegious to say so, but it really was a thrilling moment. And a fitting tribute.

I got in line at about 7pm, and stood in the gated rows that each spanned the width of the reflecting pool. It was blazing hot and humid at first, with some breezes aided by giant green fans helping to cool the air. Red Cross workers were distributing water bottles to the crowd, but this was still not enough for some: ambulances took away a few people who collapsed--whether from heat prostration or exhaustion or dehydration, I don't know. The young man in front of me in a beige suit kept a running monologue to his friends nearly the entire time. One man who was perhaps a dozen people in front of us held a California vanity license plate with "GIPPER" written upon it. He and his 11-year-old daughter were interviewed by the local NBC affiliate, and as I listened to the exchange, I saw the daughter hold up a framed picture of herself with Nancy Reagan. For her birthday, her parents had arranged for her to meet the former first lady at the Reagan Library. Many Eastern European accents could be discerned, and there were several Jewish kippahs, a man chomping upon macadamia nuts who was wearing a clerical collar, a Sikh, African-American, Asian, babies with red, white and blue bows on their heads and elderly women in wheelchairs. One man with an unidentifiable accent was decked out in flag-image clothing, carrying a large American flag on a flagpole. Many servicemen and women were visible throughout the crowd, as well: one policeman in blue dress uniform with a black-banded badge stood next to a group of midshipmen, a pair of marines accompanied by a little boy with a buzzcut, a few army grunts in fatigues, a Navy captain, and a Marine officer in full dress uniform (those white gloves must have been awfully hot).

Five hours and several security checks later, and I arrived at the Capitol itself. Through a small portable cabin, where there were 12 metal detectors set up; cameras had to be turned in, cellphones turned off, and all liquids and lotions disposed of (it would have been nice to alert the crowd earlier about the latter point--some people ended up leaving the line after waiting five hours because they couldn't throw out their medication; one man left after being told that he couldn't bring in his coin purse.). Walking across the stone promenade in the moonlight, with the nighttime view over the reflecting pool, was awe-inspiring. By this time, everyone is tired, dusty and sweaty, but with the end so near, a sort of preparatory mind set seemed to come over those around us: taking in the moment and adopting a properly reverent attitude.

We entered the door, one by one, after a man (Capitol Policeman?) in a formal red uniform with white gloves greeted us, thanked each of us for waiting and wished us a pleasant evening. As I walked towards the staircase, a man in a grey suit with some sort of lapel pin shook each person's hand, asked several people where they were from, and thanked everyone for coming to pay their respects to President Reagan. To the left of the staircase was a large sign which read "Quiet while in the Capitol" (or something similar). I climbed up the stairs to the Rotunda and entered at just before midnight under the twin gaze of Lincoln to our left and Thomas Jefferson to our right. The flag-covered casket was situated upon the pine catafalque made for Lincoln's funeral, which was swagged in black. A few, perhaps three, floral tribute wreaths surrounded the casket and gave off a strong perfume as I wound our way past, guided by the velvet rope-and-stanchion path. Unfortunately, I missed the changing of the guard by about 1 minute, but obviously one could not linger under the dome. One little Hispanic girl in front of me in her mother's arms turned around towards the funeral bier as she was leaving and waved goodbye.

As the crowd exited, we were handed cream-colored cards, probably 4 x 6, with a gold eagle at the top, and black script below. Tribute to Ronald Reagan from a grateful nation... with some text about the dates and lying in state.

Wouldn't have missed the experience for the world.

Good report. I was in line last night too, and said goodbye to the President at 12:39AM this morning. For anyone considering making the trip, I encourage you to make the effort. It is definitely worth it. The atmosphere in the Rotunda was so reverent -- I can't find the right word for it, inspiring comes close, but it was more than that. Just very moving.

A couple of things that struck me as I was waiting in the long line to get into the rotunda. (1) there were a lot of foreign citizens and imigrants in line. Several Royal Air Force officers were staning in line near me, and the family in front of me were a Mexican-American couple with 6 children (all pre-teen) who drove all the way from San Antonio. (2) Curiously, I saw almost no one smoking in line. I'm not sure what, if anything, to read into this. Are Reaganites predominately non-smokers, or were people just being respectful of others. I suspect the former, but don't know -- just a curious observation.

Earlier, I watched the funeral procession from the curb in front of the Labor Dept Building. When the caisson went by and the "missing man" formation flew overhead, everyone in my vicinity was crying or chocking back tears.

Recommendation for anyone driving to the capitol today or tonight -- try parking at Union Station parking garage. It's open 24 hours and is only 4 blocks from the capitol. After standing in line for five hours you won't mind stretching you legs for a four-block stroll back to your car.

I had a walkman portable radio with me and was afraid I would have to throw it away, like the gentleman in RobFromGa's report, but they let me check it at the camera check tent. They allowed us to check any electronic devices at a tent set up at the second checkpoint. They put the gear in a bag and gave us a claim check and allowed us to claim our items at another tent set up on the exit side of the line. (The checked items were shuttled over to the exit tent so they would be waiting for us when we left the Rotunda. Pretty efficient.)

Thank you for bneing there and reporting on this monumental, historic event.

I had planned to drive my Mom and son down to California for the processional to the burial...but my Mom was ill this morning and so I am here with her and we will have to settle for being there in spirit...though I so wanted to go.

So, your and Joanie's reports mean all the more to me.

I read JeffHead’s words that I had carried with me for him.

I do not know what to say, or how to thank you for this. Under the circumstances, when I read it, and my wife and mother read it with me, it brought tears to my eyes as if though I had been able to be there.

God bless you Rob...God bless and rest Ronald Reagan, God keep and comfort Nancy...and may God grant that we shall not forget, but that we shall forge forward in defense of liberty and this nation that President Reagan loved so much.

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