It's a day to honor not only those who have died in combat, but it's to honor those who continue to serve. "I wanted them to know how much I appreciate going to say to these young men and women, 'Thanks for what you're doing,'" the president said. He, in turn, thanked them and gave them a tour of his office and the mementos of American history with which he had decorated it, including portraits of Lincoln and Washington.Īfter the meeting, Bush and the coaches walked slowly through the warm sunshine bathing the South Lawn to meet with the media. The coaches gave the president their impressions of the trip. Once the bus moved through the gate - after a bomb-sniffing dog moved quickly through the bus, ending with a nuzzle of Richt - the coaches and eight other members of the tour moved quickly into the Oval Office. The fifth coach, Jack Siedlecki of Yale, is no stranger to the president, who graduated from the Ivy League school in 1968. Richt, Tuberville and Randy Shannon of Miami have made at least two visits as players or assistants on national championship teams. Weis was an assistant coach on four Super Bowl winners. A few of the coaches had no trouble acting as if they had been there before. "Can't we just say we're with Charlie?" Mark Richt of Georgia said, teasing Charlie Weis of Notre Dame. On the way to the White House, someone reminded the coaches to have some identification ready. That's the way the coaches' tour went - as smoothly as possible, given the tremendous logistics involved in carting two dozen civilians some 8,000 miles to visit three countries and a U.S. Once the crew decided to press on, however, the headwind dropped to 20 knots. Headwinds of more than 100 knots forced the KC-135 tanker to use so much fuel that when the plane got over Ireland - the point of no return before crossing the Atlantic - the nine-member crew from McConnell Air Force Base in Kansas considered turning back to refuel at RAF Lakenheath in England. The visit to the White House came after a 15-hour flight from Southwest Asia that had a few white-knuckle moments. "Your wife's not going to let you bring it home." "You need to get rid of all this stuff," Tuberville said, referring to the fewer than eight months remaining in Bush's term. In a brief meeting in the Oval Office, Bush presented each of the coaches with a tie clip and a golf ball, each with the presidential seal. He is not intimidated by power, whether it's on the other sideline or in the Oval Office. Tuberville once had the nickname The Riverboat Gambler because of his willingness to make play calls that defied conventional wisdom. military personnel in the Middle East, the Air Force arranged to whisk them to the White House for a meeting with President George W. WASHINGTON - When Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville and the other four coaches arrived at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland from their six-day visit to U.S. He has been updating this trip diary regularly since Tuesday, May 20, and will take a deeper look at the journey beginning Tuesday, May 27. You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browserĬommander-in-chief greets coaches at end of Middle East tripĬollege Football, Auburn Tigers, Yale Bulldogs, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Georgia Bulldogs, Miami HurricanesĮditor's note: Ivan Maisel is traveling with Auburn's Tommy Tuberville, Georgia's Mark Richt, Miami's Randy Shannon, Notre Dame's Charlie Weis and Yale's Jack Siedlecki on the coaches' tour of the Middle East.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |