50 Years Ago
written by Howard Richardson 01-20-11
Go back to January 19, 1961 Place Washington, DC, day before the Presidential Inauguration. I was in the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers stationed at Fort Belvoir Va. outside of Washington, DC.
On this day it started snowing early in the morning and by mid afternoon of January 19, 1961 we had between 8 and 10 inches
on the ground.
On January 20,1961 John F. Kennedy was to be inaugurated as President.
That afternoon our Unit was called out to remove the snow from The Parade route from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to The Capitol. This is a 2 mile route 4 lane Street, and then the sidewalk around the Capitol. We worked though the night and about 5 AM on January 20 we were taken back to Fort Belvoir Va to eat breakfast, take a shower, put on our dress uniform, and be ready to return to Washington, DC for guard duty along the parade route and around the Capitol. The temperature was about 22 degrees and the wind made it feel like about 7 degrees. I know it was cold.
We were on both sides of Pennsylvania Avenue and around the Capitol just an arms length apart. I remember my guard spot was on the east side of the Capitol where the Presidential Inauguration took place. This was a great experience for me.
You see while I was in The Army I got to see and meet two (2) of our great presidents, President Eisenhower, and President Kennedy.
This happened 50 years ago but as I write this it seems like it happened only yesterday.