Today’s Inauguration Schedule

The President-elect and Vice President-elect and their families will participate in the traditional inaugural ceremonies and events. For the first time ever, the length of the National Mall will be open to those wishing to attend the swearing-in ceremony.  Festivities will commence at 10 a.m. on the west front of the U.S. Capitol and will include:

•    Musical Selections:  The United States Marine Band, followed by The San Francisco Boys Chorus and the San Francisco Girls Chorus
•    Call to Order and Welcoming Remarks: Senator Dianne Feinstein
•    Invocation: Dr. Rick Warren
•    Musical Selection: Aretha Franklin
•    Vice President-elect Joseph R. Biden, Jr. will be sworn into office by Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, the Honorable John Paul Stevens
•    Musical Selection: John Williams, composer/arranger with Itzhak Perlman, (violin), Yo-Yo Ma  (cello), Gabriela Montero (piano) and Anthony McGill (clarinet)
•    President-elect Barack H. Obama will take the Oath of Office, using President Lincoln’s Inaugural Bible, administered by the Chief Justice of the United States, the Honorable John G. Roberts, Jr.
•    Inaugural Address
•    Poem: Elizabeth Alexander
•    Benediction: The Reverend Dr. Joseph E. Lowery
•    The National Anthem: The United States Navy Band “Sea Chanters”

After President Obama gives his Inaugural Address, he will escort outgoing President George W. Bush to a departure ceremony before attending a luncheon in the Capitol’s Statuary Hall. The 56th Inaugural Parade will then make its way down Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the White House with groups traveling from all over the country to participate.

Later that day, the Presidential Inaugural Committee will host ten official Inaugural Balls.  More details about the Inaugural Balls will be released at a later date.

It Is Our Duty: iCommandant

by Admiral Thad Allen

Shipmates,

This afternoon I had the great pleasure to join my fellow service chiefs and Chairman ADM Mike Mullen in honoring those who have been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. Time after time from each hero we heard the same thing, “I was just doing my job.” It was an inspiring event. Now, we have to do our job.

As we departed the luncheon for a meeting at the Department of Homeland Security we drove through Washington, DC. The unprecedented confluence of Martin Luther King Day and the Inauguration of President Elect Barack Obama is having an electrifying effect on our Nation and the Capitol.

There is no denying that change is in the air.

As we passed the Jefferson Memorial and crossed the Mall on 17th Street there were people everywhere. Looking to the left, the World War II Memorial was packed despite the frigid temperatures and crowds could be seen all the way to the Lincoln Memorial. To the right, there was a line at the Washington Monument and we could see a “jumbo-tron” in front of the Capitol over a mile away being tuned up for tomorrow.

In the time it took to cross the Mall I crossed forty-plus years of memories. Not far away a very young Third Class Cadet Thad Allen marched in President Nixon’s first inaugural parade in 1969. It was a different time. There were anti-war demonstrations and a “counter” inaugural parade and we were prohibited from being on the Mall in uniform. It was a strange setting.

This was the place where Martin Luther King transformed a national consciousness and the world with his “I have a dream” speech in 1964. Now it was a place of conflict within the consciousness of the country displayed visually for the world.

I understood what Doctor King said when I reported to my first unit in 1971 where I was assigned a Filipino steward. Stewards were not afforded the opportunity to serve in any capacity beyond menial servitude such as cleaning staterooms, doing laundry and cooking meals.

Prior to World War II, stewards were African American. After the war the bias was re-created with enlisted Filipinos. At the Coast Guard Academy we trained Stewards by serving cadets. Thankfully, we broke the chain of servitude and allowed Filipinos to compete for other ratings in the 1970?s. Since then I have had the privilege of officiating at ceremonies celebrating the promotion and retirement of many of these former stewards. I call them friends and shipmates.

I thought of that when I crossed the Mall.

Tomorrow we will witness the true genius of our American Constitution and the promise of the American Revolution. I will be there, I will represent you. Barack Obama will be sworn in as our Commander in Chief. My charge and the charge to all men and women who serve in our Coast Guard: stand erect, salute, defend the Constitution, and execute the mission.

Tomorrow I will stand on the steps of the Capitol with our Commander in Chief. He will direct, we will follow. It is my duty, is your duty. Carry it out .. with Honor, Respective, and Devotion to Duty.