THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, June 6, 1994 TAG: 9406060067
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: THE WASHINGTON POST
DATELINE: 940606 LENGTH: ABOARD THE USS GEORGE WASHINGTON
``I think he feels the stigma more than we in the military do,'' he said, adding, ``He said all the right things here.''
{REST} If Clinton, the first president born after World War II and one of the few without military service, feels any stigma, he showed no sign of it on the eve of the observance of one of the greatest military triumphs in U.S. history, the D-Day invasion.
Aboard the George Washington, Clinton was the commander-in-chief who saluted the crew of 6,000 and spent chunks of his evening eating with enlisted sailors and shaking hands with dozens upon dozens of them.
``Exactly 50 years ago at this very time,'' he told the sailors, ``young people just like you were right here in this channel on some 5,000 ships. . . . Imagine how they must have felt.'' As the nation honors those who served in World War II, he said, ``we must also honor those who serve now, who are continuing the legacy they left us. . . . Your country is deeply in your debt.''
Clinton began his day in the company of the leaders of 12 nations that participated in the D-Day invasion 50 years ago this night. A traditional religious ceremony for ships embarking on military action was held in Portsmouth, England, and then a huge flotilla, led by Queen Elizabeth's giant yacht, the Britannia, set sail across the channel to Normandy. A sunrise ceremony off the coast will begin the official D-Day observances.
The Brittania first sailed past this carrier before delivering Clinton, and the George Washington gave him a one-of-a-kind salute. Hundreds of sailors lined up in formation on deck, who lifted their hats in unison and chanted, three times, ``hip-hip-hooray'' into the chilly winds.
Some of the sailors here said that before Clinton and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton arrived, there had been some grumbling about his lack of military service, of downsizing the Navy and of Democratic presidents in general. Eldon Cline, a sailor from Savannah, Ga., said some of those complaining the loudest were pushing the hardest to meet the Clintons.
Cline, in his respect for the office of the presidency, seemed to reflect an attitude repeated frequently by others aboard this ship, if not throughout a military that has had an uncomfortable time its first 18 months with a new president who has seemed less than at ease with things military. If the gods had devised a week of torture for someone discomfited by the military, this would be it: one military ceremony after another of sad, moving tributes to the memory of the thousands of young men who died to liberate Europe from the Nazis.
Cline, in describing his joy at seeing Clinton, said: ``Hey, it's got nothing to do with his policies or anything like that. I joined the Navy to defend the country. He is my commander-in-chief. I've never seen a president before. It was great.''
His face crinkled in disgust at the actions of one of his fellow sailors, Anthony Bonnici, who literally begged television correspondents to interview him about his dislike for the president. Bonnici said Clinton dodged the draft and should not be leading the nation's commemoration of D-Day. He said Clinton ``never served one day of his life in the military'' and could not possibly understand what motivates military men and women.
He said a lot worse about the Clintons, quoting conservative radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh and G. Gordon Liddy, both of whom he listens to frequently. He said he wanted to meet the person in charge of the country, and the president too - a dig at Hillary Rodham Clinton.
A half-hour later, the ecstatic Bonnici, of Virginia Beach, was back with a picture of both Clintons that he had talked each into autographing. He also got the Clintons to autograph a picture of his child.
``Hey, I don't have to like the guy,'' he said, ``He is the president. How many times in your life do you get to meet the president?''
{KEYWORDS} D-DAY WORLD WAR II USS GEORGE WASHINGTON PRESIDENT CLINTON BILL CLINTON by CNB