# President Ford



## tomahawk6 (29 Dec 2006)

Although the ceremonial aspect of honoring President Ford will be the same as those for President Reagan, I enjoy the display of professionalism by the Joint Honor Guard. President Ford was one of those rare politicians that put the good of the country ahead of personal ambition. His actions helped to heal the nation in the aftermath of the Vietnam War and Watergate.He was a good steward of the Presidency during his brief tenure.Rest in Peace President Ford.

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=2541

Nearly 4,000 Troops to Participate in Ford Funeral Activities
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Dec. 28, 2006 – Almost 4,000 soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guard members are gearing up to support the national farewell to former President Gerald R. Ford that will span a seven-day period with events in California, Maryland, the nation’s capital and Michigan. 

“This is DoD’s way of showing respect and honor to a former commander in chief and president, so it’s very important to us,” said Army Col. Jim Yonts, public affairs officer for the Military District of Washington. 

Yonts told American Forces Press Service the military’s experience in planning, attention to detail and execution makes it ideally suited to conducting state funerals honoring former presidents. 

“It ensures the synchronization of many, many moving parts, with ground assets, air assets, intelligence assets and all kinds of other assets coming together to ensure a safe and secure state funeral that properly honors a former commander in chief and president,” he said. 

MDW, operating as the Joint Force Headquarters-National Capital Region, will serve as the Defense Department’s command and control headquarters for the funeral activities, and is coordinating military support that ranges from color guards and honorary pallbearers to airlift and other transportation to logistics, Yonts said. 

About 100 members of a joint service honor guard from throughout the National Capital arrived yesterday in Palm Desert, Calif., where Ford will lie in repose tomorrow through Saturday, he said. 

Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif., will coordinate events in California, and the Michigan National Guard will coordinate events in Michigan, he said. 

The U.S. Marine Corps Twentynine Palms Band will play a military arrival ceremony and private family prayer service at 4 p.m. tomorrow at Palm Desert’s St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church. 

After the service, Ford’s remains will lie in repose through early Dec. 30. Members of the Washington-based 3rd U.S. Army Infantry Regiment, “the Old Guard”; the U.S. Marine Corps Ceremonial and Guard Company; the U.S. Navy Ceremonial Guard; the U.S. Air Force Honor Guard and the U.S. Coast Guard Ceremonial Honor Guard will attend the casket, Yonts said. 

A military honor guard will accompany Ford’s remains as they are flown to Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Dec. 30. 

There, a joint service honor cordon and color guard will meet them for a 5:30 p.m. arrival ceremony. The U.S. Air Force Band will provide music, and The Old Guard’s Presidential Salute Battery will render a 21-gun salute, Yonts said. 

Joint-service pallbearers will carry the casket to a hearse, which will lead a motorcade through Washington, D.C., en route to the U.S. Capitol. The motorcade will pause in front of the World War II Memorial, a tribute to Ford’s service in the U.S. Navy during World War II. 

Once at the east side of the Capitol, the pallbearers will carry Ford’s casket into the House chambers, where he will lie in state to commemorate his many years as a U.S. congressman. From there, the pallbearers will carry the casket to the rotunda to lie in state, before moving it again to the Senate chambers to honor Ford’s time as vice president, and therefore, president of the Senate. 

On Jan. 2, the pallbearers will carry the casket down the Senate steps to the awaiting hearse. His motorcade will proceed to a 10:30 a.m. state funeral at the Washington National Cathedral, where President Bush will speak. 

Following the state funeral, Ford’s body will be flown to Grand Rapids, Mich., for burial on the grounds of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum in the former president’s hometown. 

There, he will lie in repose before being moved at 1 p.m. Jan. 3 for a private funeral service at Grace Episcopal Church, Yonts said. Following the ceremony, the casket will be returned to the presidential museum for burial. 

Throughout the funeral events, every branch of the armed forces and the U.S. Coast Guard will provide personnel, support and ceremonial units to the Joint Task Force National Capital Region, Yonts said. These ceremonial units have participated in state funerals for Presidents Eisenhower, Truman, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon and Reagan. 

President Ronald Reagan was the last former president to receive a state funeral, in June 2004.


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## vonGarvin (29 Dec 2006)

During his presidency, it must have been an amazing time.  Neither the president nor the vice-president were elected to those positions!  Who was his VP, by the way?


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## niner domestic (29 Dec 2006)

Ford picked Nelson A. Rockefeller, a liberal Republican and four-term governor of New York, as his vice president


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## tomahawk6 (29 Dec 2006)

It was a real test of our constitution thats for sure.Then there was the Mayaquez incident which was a tragic incident that was a footnote to our Vietnam experience.


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## JackD (30 Dec 2006)

Perhaps here, I'd like to state my best wishes to Mrs. Ford and the Ford family. On another website, I did the same, referring to him as the Jimmy Stewart of the presidency. Not a bad description either - as Jimmy Stewart was a serving soldier, as Mr. Ford was a serving sailor - and both volunteers. Both stood for decency and normality - the middle class guy who made good through hard work. A good man who made America better for his being. Sad that he wasn't re-elected. I think he is one holder of that office whom time will deal with respectfully.


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## vonGarvin (30 Dec 2006)

I was but 8 years old when Mr. Ford became Pres.  I do recall seeing Pres Nixon as he gave his speech: it was on every channel (we had about 12 channels back then).
The more I read about him now, the more respect I have for him.  He healed the nation after Watergate and Vietnam.  If it weren't for his vocal blunder that EASTERN Europe wasn't under the heel of Soviet oppression (I think he meant to say Western Europe), he could very well have won that election in 76.  Although he started well behind Jimmy Carter, he closed the gap significantly, but his pardon of Nixon combined with the perception that he was a bumbling fool (see: Chevy Chase on SNL as an example) probably failed to keep him from getting the nod.
As I read about him, he was instrumental in bringing Canada into the so-called "Gx" (where x is the number of nations: I think it was at 5 then).  Pierre Trudeau and he apparently got along and he continued the detente with the Soviet Union that Nixon began.

RIP President Ford


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