Tribute to a Hero

Last week, I was in mourning. Not because POTUS and the FF went to Martha's Vineyard and I stayed here. It was more so because I realized this was the first summer in five years when I didn't spend any quality time in Texas. Somehow I missed sitting in the Crawford Middle School in 120 degrees. I think it was more about missing the free ice cream and Katie's Custard. I'm sure my colleagues had a good time in MV but as I know all too well, even when POTUS goes on vacation, that doesn't mean the news stops.

Even though I wasn't in MV or the immediate Cape Cod area, I was still rather consumed with the coverage of Ted Kennedy's death. This was one of those stories that I wasn't involved with in person but I ended up putting together a couple of pieces last week. I'm not here to talk about politics but I have always been fascinated with the Kennedy family (no where to the levels of the royal family but I have read tons of things about them nonetheless) so I paid attention as much attention as possible to the coverage. It reminded me of my favorite Ted Kennedy memory.

Years ago when I was a producer for one of my network's shows, we had this segment called Capitol Cribs. It was supposed to be somewhat after the MTV show but basically I went in with a camera to different Congressmen and Senators offices and showed off the cool artifacts and memomentos. Most of the time, they weren't actually there but in every case, there was always some really cool things in there. Well, we got access to Ted Kennedy's hide-a-way office in the Capitol building and so I went with my anchor and we actually interviewed him about his stuff. And it was the coolest experience ever. He would point out things from his brothers' campaigns or things from his father. It was like a museum! The coolest things!! My other memory of Ted Kennedy was when I would venture up to Capitol Hill for any reason at all, 9 times out of 10, I would see Sen. Kennedy walking with his dog, Splash. I especially appreciated the fact that he would clean up after Splash. Not only was I glad I didn't really have to watch where I was stepping, but I was glad to see he didn't expect anyone from his staff to include that in their job duties. Anyway, Ted Kennedy served his country in so many ways and I think he got the proper, dignified send-off he deserved.

However, I spent this morning remembering a much lesser-known American Hero, yet one who served his country ever so faithful as well. CWO Edwin Bauer, Jr. was an older man at my church who I had befriended many years ago. I told Ed that he was the third Ed Bauer in my life- first Dr. Ed Bauer of Guiding Light (which I haven't watched in years and he's probably not on the show any more), then Eddie Bauer and his clothing line (which I haven't worn in years) and then him, just plain-old Ed Bauer. However, as I got to know him, I realized that there was nothing "just plain-old" about him. Mr. Bauer served for 30+ years in the US Army and was in Korea and then did two tours at the White House. He carried the nuclear football for Presidents Kennedy and Johnson. Back then with less technology, that job was even a bigger deal than it is today! The stories this man had were incredible and I just soaked up as much as I could from him. LBJ personally fired him three times apparently! He worked for the WH communication office which I have friends who work there today. They basically had the same responsibilities but with far fewer men, the 1960s technology, and scarce airline schedules. It's impressive what that office does today but I'm blown away by all they did back then. At his funeral about 6 weeks ago, there were so many great stories told that my only regret is that I didn't ask Mr. Bauer to share more stories. He had fallen ill a couple of years ago and never recovered. But he was a faithful Christian so I have no doubt that he's in a much better place and now has even more interesting stories to tell me one day in heaven.

His burial service this morning was the first time I had been to a full-blown honors service at Arlington National Cemetery. Mrs. Bauer had stopped me at church a few weeks ago and said that she would love for me to come- not only to honor Ed but also just to see an Arlington service. I am so glad it worked out for me to be able to go because I have never been to a service like that. It was full-on honors and was perhaps one of the more moving funeral/burial services I have ever been to. I don't generally enjoy funerals (who does?) but I thought it was just the most fitting respect for Mr. Bauer. The precision and pomp and circumstance that I've only seen on TV for Presidents or other famous people was right there this morning. The US Army band played and they placed the coffin on a caisson to take him to his final resting place. There was a gun salute, a ceremonial flag-folding, and my friend Jason (who plays for the US Army band and does this kind of thing every day) played Taps. Apparently, Ed had asked him if he would play at his service so it was an extra special assignment for Jason. The whole experience was quite moving and I can think of very few other things that put the patriotic feeling inside me like this morning.

After the service, the people I was with (I was on a bus with some of the senior adults from my church) took an impromptu tour of Arlington National Cemetery thanks to one of the older members who has access to the cemetery to visit his loved ones. We drove all around the cemetery which to me, is one of the most inspiring places on earth. The amount of history and the number of stories contained in the lives of those there is just overwhelming! Fred, the impromptu tour guide, pointed out all kinds of neat things that I had never heard (even though I've been there many, many times!) The final part of our tour was driving by the Kennedys' graves. I had pictured in my head that the newly dug grave for Sen. Kennedy would be a fairly prominent place with huge crowds around. I was surprised when it was just slightly farther from the eternal flame than I thought and there were only a handful of people there taking pictures. The number of people paying tribute to CWO Ed Bauer greatly outnumbered those at Kennedy's grave. As much as I love the Kennedys, it just did my heart good to see how many lives just "plain-old" Ed Bauer touched.

Here are some pictures from the ceremony. Not to worry, I was most respectful of the moment and only took pictures when appropriate. And I wasn't the only one taking pictures, although with that crowd, I was the only one taking them with my blackberry. :)