Shambler wrote:Congratulations! I'm sure it was a wonderful experience, meeting your president and commander-in-chief. This is one of those great stories you can tell your kids one day, as well as show off your photos and very nice autograph {thumb2} I certainly wouldn't mind having a personalized auto from Mr.Bush!

hockeyfan1994 wrote:Well this was a fantastic time. We arrived in Paris late yesterday morning and went to the U.S. Embassy to get ready for our ceremony with the President later on in the afternoon. They had most of Paris shut down yesterday for the President's visit so i know that must have infuriated some locals!

We went to the American Cemetery to hold the U.S. flag for the official party's visit (The President). He layed a wreath in honor of the fallen WWI and WWII veteran, took a tour of the museum and burial grounds and than headed off. It was a pretty short event, but it was so well worth going and being a part of this once in a lifetime event!

Afterwards, we were invited back to the Ambassador's residence to meet and greet with the President. I was able to take a photo with him, he signed my photo and shook my hand. A few minutes later he did a group photo with us that were in uniform about 30 of us, shook all of our hands, thanked us individually for our service and even made one of our girls cry because it was an emotional and pivotal moment in your life/career. He consoled her, gave her a hug and even told her about how watching her cry reminded him of his daughter's wedding and was walking her down the isle how he looked at his daughter and saw that her eyes were swelled with tears and he began to cry.

He has always been known to hold his service members very dear to his heart and you can tell when he looked you in the eye and shook your hand that he really had a be found respect and love for us. It was a great day!