Bob Visits The White House
Operation Song® Founder, Bob Regan
First, I want to say thank you to Mike Byer, Operation Song’s Executive Director, for this opportunity. He and I batted it back-and-forth trying to decide who deserved it more, but he was pretty insistent that I go. I was not gonna fight too hard to refuse this once-in-a-lifetime honor — and Mike’s likely got a lot more “lifetime” ahead of him than I do.
I arrived in DC the day before and stayed a few miles away from the meeting point at Fort Myers, contiguous to Arlington Cemetery. They wanted us there at 6 AM for a security screening after which we would catch buses to the White House. My scheduled Lyft, of course, did not show up so after 20 minutes or so I freaked out, called an Uber and got there by about 6:40 AM in a mini-panic. Turned out not to be an issue as apparently all the screening had been done beforehand. About 180 of us then loaded on buses. There were several servicemen and women in our group as well as national commanders of VFW, DAV, Korean War Veterans Association, and several others.
We arrived at the White House a little before 8 AM and we’re ushered into the entry hall where a six- or seven-piece military band was performing some excellent background music. We were given a photo card with our name, then ushered down the hall to the buffet style breakfast. I wish I had taken a picture of the food, but I was so hungry that it didn’t occur to me! I will go deeper on that at some point, but it was excellent.
We were directed down the hall to the dining room where we were seated at tables of 10. Everyone was in a jovial mood and very chatty, so I made some good connections, handed out all my business cards, and received several others. There was a large and efficient staff making sure we had whatever we needed — coffee, juice, water, etc. At about 9 AM, the President and First Lady came out and greeted us. He gave a brief speech thanking veterans and everyone there for their service. We then formed a reception line to get a photo and to have a few seconds of face time with the President and the First Lady.
When my turn came, we shook hands and for some reason I said, “They somehow let a songwriter slip through.” President Biden laughed and said, “We could use some talent in here.” I then gave him the abbreviated OpSong elevator speech. He lit up and said something along the lines of, “That is amazing.” I told him that as Commander in Chief, he qualified to write a song and we would love to have him give it a try. With that, my 20 seconds were over.
We were then given coffees to go and directed back to the buses. We made the short drive to Arlington Cemetery where we had an excellent view of the laying of the wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier. By then, it had warmed up and we stood under a clear blue sky surrounded by beautiful autumn colors. There was a very loud, concussive 21-gun salute, which elicited an unexpected tear or two. We then went into the large amphitheater where there were speeches by the head of VA and other dignitaries. President Biden gave a very inspiring speech. Despite what you might have heard, he sounded forceful, eloquent, and passionate. He spoke about his son, Beau, an Iraq veteran who who passed away from brain cancer in his 40s. I read later that they believe it may have been due to exposure to burn pits. I am planning on reaching out to the White House Social Director with a few songs about burn pits and agent orange exposure, which will hopefully get to the President and/or the First Lady.
The ceremonies ended with probably the best version of “God Bless America” ever — by the Air Force band and choir I believe. I felt like he has indeed blessed America and it’s up to us to be worthy of that blessing. All in all, the event was inspiring, uplifting, and reconfirmed my belief that what unites us is far greater than what divides us.
I came home sleep deprived with a nice head cold, but it was worth every bit of it. Honored to have represented Operation Song®.
— Bob