thedrifter
05-09-07, 06:19 AM
Queen honors U.S. dead at WWII memorial
By Desmond Butler - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday May 8, 2007 20:59:06 EDT
WASHINGTON — Queen Elizabeth II paid tribute to American service members with a trip to the National World War II Memorial on Tuesday before capping her six-day U.S. state visit with a dinner for President Bush.
Accompanied by Bush’s father, former President George H. W. Bush, a veteran of the war, and his wife, Barbara, the queen placed a wreath in honor of the 400,000 U.S. soldiers who died. A ribbon across it said: “In memory of the glorious dead.”
Afterward there was a drum roll, and a bugler played taps.
Dressed in a sharp blue suit and hat, the queen then joined a park ranger for a walk around a fountain at the center of the memorial, stopping to look at the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington monument before veterans of World War II, some in wheelchairs.
One of the veterans, Marjorie Gallun, 85, who said she served in the Marine Corps, told the Queen: “We are happy to have you here.”
The queen politely replied: “We are happy to be here.”
Outside the memorial, a crowd of several hundred royal-watchers stood behind a picket fence, on which two Union Jacks were hung. The crowd applauded as the queen’s limousine went by.
It was the British monarch’s first visit to the war memorial, which was dedicated in 2004. The queen, a teenage princess during World War II, served her country in the war as a driver in the Women’s Auxiliary Territorial Service, the women’s branch of the British Army.
The visit with her husband, Prince Philip, was a stop on a full day of sightseeing in the U.S. capital area Tuesday that started in the morning with a trip to NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in suburban Maryland, where she heard three astronauts aboard the international space station describe their work.
The crew members — Navy Cmdr. Suni Williams and two Russians, Cmdr. Fyodor Yurchikhin and Flight Engineer Oleg Kotov — answered questions from British-born NASA astronaut C. Michael Foale, who stood beside the queen. The video link at the flight center was one-way, so the crew members could not see the queen standing by silently.
After hearing from the astronauts, the British monarch toured Goddard, in Greenbelt, Maryland, just outside Washington D.C. She helped plant a tree in the garden outside the flight center to commemorate her visit. The flight center is home to the largest organization of scientists and engineers in the United States, according to NASA.
In the early afternoon, first lady Laura Bush joined the royal couple for a visit to Children’s National Medical Center, where the queen spoke to sick children as they made cookies.
On Tuesday night, the royal couple was hosting the Bushes at the British Embassy, their final event before flying back to England overnight. It was a return favor for the white-tie state dinner Bush put on for the royal couple Monday night at the White House.
Tuesday’s ceremonies followed a gala first day in Washington for the British royals that was accompanied by all the ceremony of a state visit, including the first white tie state dinner in the Bushes’ six years in the White House.
Associated Press writer Harry Dunphy contributed to this report.
Ellie
By Desmond Butler - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday May 8, 2007 20:59:06 EDT
WASHINGTON — Queen Elizabeth II paid tribute to American service members with a trip to the National World War II Memorial on Tuesday before capping her six-day U.S. state visit with a dinner for President Bush.
Accompanied by Bush’s father, former President George H. W. Bush, a veteran of the war, and his wife, Barbara, the queen placed a wreath in honor of the 400,000 U.S. soldiers who died. A ribbon across it said: “In memory of the glorious dead.”
Afterward there was a drum roll, and a bugler played taps.
Dressed in a sharp blue suit and hat, the queen then joined a park ranger for a walk around a fountain at the center of the memorial, stopping to look at the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington monument before veterans of World War II, some in wheelchairs.
One of the veterans, Marjorie Gallun, 85, who said she served in the Marine Corps, told the Queen: “We are happy to have you here.”
The queen politely replied: “We are happy to be here.”
Outside the memorial, a crowd of several hundred royal-watchers stood behind a picket fence, on which two Union Jacks were hung. The crowd applauded as the queen’s limousine went by.
It was the British monarch’s first visit to the war memorial, which was dedicated in 2004. The queen, a teenage princess during World War II, served her country in the war as a driver in the Women’s Auxiliary Territorial Service, the women’s branch of the British Army.
The visit with her husband, Prince Philip, was a stop on a full day of sightseeing in the U.S. capital area Tuesday that started in the morning with a trip to NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in suburban Maryland, where she heard three astronauts aboard the international space station describe their work.
The crew members — Navy Cmdr. Suni Williams and two Russians, Cmdr. Fyodor Yurchikhin and Flight Engineer Oleg Kotov — answered questions from British-born NASA astronaut C. Michael Foale, who stood beside the queen. The video link at the flight center was one-way, so the crew members could not see the queen standing by silently.
After hearing from the astronauts, the British monarch toured Goddard, in Greenbelt, Maryland, just outside Washington D.C. She helped plant a tree in the garden outside the flight center to commemorate her visit. The flight center is home to the largest organization of scientists and engineers in the United States, according to NASA.
In the early afternoon, first lady Laura Bush joined the royal couple for a visit to Children’s National Medical Center, where the queen spoke to sick children as they made cookies.
On Tuesday night, the royal couple was hosting the Bushes at the British Embassy, their final event before flying back to England overnight. It was a return favor for the white-tie state dinner Bush put on for the royal couple Monday night at the White House.
Tuesday’s ceremonies followed a gala first day in Washington for the British royals that was accompanied by all the ceremony of a state visit, including the first white tie state dinner in the Bushes’ six years in the White House.
Associated Press writer Harry Dunphy contributed to this report.
Ellie