LIVE WEBCAST TONIGHT AT 6PM (PT) / 9PM (ET): Tricia Nixon Cox and Ross Perot to Address Vietnam POWs at Reunion Gala Tonight Program to feature special performance by the POW chorus, video tributes by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. Nearly 200 Vietnam POWs and their spouses will gather for a gala at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library tonight on the 40th anniversary of the White House dinner hosted for them by President Nixon on May 24, 1973 – the largest dinner in White House history. The program will feature remarks by President Nixon’s daughter Tricia Nixon Cox, business leader and POW advocate Ross Perot, and Congressman Ed Royce, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, as well as video tributes from Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, and Air Force POW Col. Bud Day. The events will also also include a special performance from the POW choir, who sang at the original dinner. 40 years ago, First Lady Pat Nixon had 126 tables set for the more than 1,300 guests, and arranged for the construction of a canopy over the South Lawn, which itself covered more area than the entire Executive Mansion. The men and their families were entertained by a Hollywood star-studded lineup including Bob Hope, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Irving Berlin. They were paid a special tribute by John Wayne, who told them: “I’ll ride into the sunset with you anytime.” Many wept openly when Irving Berlin led the chorus of heroes in “God Bless America.” “Some of the men almost seemed to be shouting so that the words could be heard all the way to Hanoi,” President Nixon later said. The First Lady opened the White House for the POWs and their families to tour, and the dancing and good cheer went on past midnight. “It had rained all day and much of the evening,” President Nixon later recalled, “but nothing could dampen the high spirits of that night.” The reunion is part of the year-long Richard Nixon Centennial Celebration. A new exhibit, Patriot. President. Peacemaker, now open at the Nixon Library explores the full-life of Richard Nixon, showing him as a man who rose from humble beginnings to become the 37th President and one of the most important and influential figures of the 20th Century. Watch live at the link below: youtube/user/NixonFoundation/featured?v=GRxkurP2Hw4
Posted on: Fri, 24 May 2013 23:20:02 +0000
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