Category / Honor Guard Company

by Old Guard History

1993 Clinton/Gore Inauguration – January 20, 1993

One last big share as the final preparations are being made for the 2017 Inauguration!
🇺🇸 🇺🇸 


🇺🇸

This is a video from the 1993 Clinton/Gore Inaugural Parade, featuring: 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard), Honor Guard Company – The Old Guard; The United States Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps, the Continental Color Guard and the Commander in Chief’s Guard.
🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸

Check out six photo albums from past inaugurations here:
www.flickr.com/…/oldguardmus…/collections/72157629413162424/
by Old Guard History

Death of Herbert Hoover – October 20, 1964

On October 20, 1964, former President Herbert Hoover died in New York City at the age of ninety. A funeral would be held at St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church in New York City on October 22, and the following day his remains would be transported by train to Washington, D.C. His body would lay in state in the Capitol Rotunda until the morning of October 25. The State Funeral would end with President Hoover’s body being transported by airplane from Washington National Airport to Cedar Rapids, Iowa. From Cedar Rapids, a procession would carry him to his final resting place in West Branch, Iowa, his childhood home and location of the Hoover Presidential Library.


Hoover’s State Funeral would be pared down from other State Funerals, as Hoover was a Quaker and for that reason, there was not a 21-gun salute performed. Hoover’s legacy immediately after leaving office was viewed as a failure, having been president during the start of the Great Depression. Later in life Hoover rehabilitated his image, becoming a popular personality. Hoover served in special commissions under Republican and Democratic presidents. His popularity was such that an estimated 100,000 people lined the route of his funeral procession from Cedar Rapids to West Branch, while 75,000 attended the burial in West Branch.


While the 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment took the lead for events in Washington, D.C., an Old Guard veteran served as lead in the Iowa segments. Captain Neale Cosby was assigned to the ROTC program at the University of Iowa. Previously, CPT Cosby served as Platoon Leader of Tomb Guard Platoon, Honor Guard Company. At the request of the Military District of Washington, CPT Cosby served as Control Officer and escorted Hoover’s body from Cedar Falls to West Branch, along with the minister, Dr. D. Elton Trueblood.


The State Funeral for President Hoover was the third State Funeral to take place in the span of one year. President Kennedy had been killed in November 1963 and General of the Army Douglas MacArthur had died in April 1964. Despite the shock of the President Kennedy’s death, units had been drilling previously, anticipating the death of Hoover. Hoover even joked about his age and health, having been given prime speaking times at three consecutive Republican Presidential Conventions. Each time party officials thought it would be his last convention. Hoover joked in 1960 that, “Apparently, my last three good-byes didn’t take.” Hoover was alive at the time of the 1964 Republican Convention, but did not appear due to health concerns.


Special thanks to Neale Cosby for additional information and photos, and to Richard Azzaro for his insights.


Photos of the Washington, D.C. elements of the Hoover State Funeral:


Photos of the Iowa elements of the Hoover State Funeral (courtesy Neale Cosby):


by Old Guard History

Staff Sergeant William R. Spates, Jr.


William R. Spates, Jr. was born on September 8, 1939. He attended Mackin High School in Washington, DC, and graduated in 1957. He entered the Army in June 1957 and completed basic training at Fort Gordon, Georgia. He then received airborne training at Fort Campbell, Kentucky and was later assigned to Worms, Germany in August 1959. While serving in Germany, Sergeant Spates completed the non-commissioned officers course at the NCO Academy and was subsequently awarded the Good Conduct Medal for exemplary behavior, efficiency  and fidelity in active military service.
Upon his return to the United States in September 1963, he was assigned to 1st Battalion (Reinf), 3rd Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) as a Chief Radio Operator. In 1964, due to his outstanding conduct, he was transferred to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier as a Relief Commander. His responsible and continuous service as a Relief Commander earned him Guard, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Identification Badge and he was further awarded (for professionalism) his second Good Conduct Medal.
In May 1965 he was initially assigned to Pleiku, Republic of Vietnam and later served as an advisor to the 23rd Vietnamese Ranger Battalion. Staff Sergeant Spates was killed in action on October 25, 1965. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star for valor and meritorious service to his country. He was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors by Honor Guard Company on November 2, 1965.