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Le ac VISION Published for friends and supporters of The Richard Nixon Foundation WINTER 2013
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“HE BROUGHT US HOME.
HE ENDED THE WAR.” — VIETNAM POW CDR. AL AGNEW ON CBS MORNING NEWS
NEARLY 200 POWS FROM THE VIETNAM WAR gathered with Tricia Nixon Cox in front of the President's white farmhouse birthplace to mark 40 years to the day that the Nixons welcomed them home at the White House.
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n extraordinary, internationally-celebrated reunion of nearly 200 Vietnam POWs took place at the Nixon Library from May 23 to 25, and likely served as their last gathering. The festivities recognized the 40th anniversary of the White House dinner hosted in their honor by President and Mrs. Nixon on May 24, 1973 which remains the largest dinner in White House history.
“They’ve never lost their bond with each other, or with the President, as controversial as the war itself, who negotiated their freedom on the way to ending their war.“ — MIKE TAIBBI REPORTING ON THE NBC NIGHTLY NEWS WITH BRIAN WILLIAMS International media coverage of the events included headline segments throughout Memorial Weekend on Fox News, ABC World News with Diane Sawyer, NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, both the CBS Morning and Evening Shows and CNN, while C-SPAN was there to capture it all. Stories by the Associated Press were dispatched globally, while local television and print outlets across the country fanned public interest. The excitement kicked off on May 23 when the POWs and their families arrived to cheering crowds in an eight-bus motorcade escorted by the California Highway Patrol, Orange County Sheriffs’ Deputies, fire trucks from local
communities, and Patriot Guard Riders. POWs laid a wreath to honor RN at a ceremony that included a “Missing Man” aircraft flyover, a special performance by award-winning vocalist Tony Orlando of his legendary “Tie a Yellow Ribbon,” and commemorative recognition from the Department of Defense. The POWs regrouped the following evening for an East Room banquet gala. Perhaps most movingly, the gala included a special performance from the POW Chorus, a group of men who composed “The POW Hymn” to honor America while confined in Hanoi’s dungeons. They sang it together for the first time in 40 years. (CONTINUED ON PAGE 5)
Dwight Chapin, Frank Gannon and Bob Bostock. The program will be followed by birthday cake celebrating RN’s 101st year and a mix and mingle reception. Fred Malek, Chair of the RN Centennial Campaign, will report on the success to date of the Centennial Campaign and its first-phase mission to fund d nix r a he Nixon Alumni Association, representing hundreds of former an imaginative renovation of the Library’s aging galleries. “It’s time to h o c volunteers and staff plus Nixon family members, will meet on make the Library presentations more dramatic and relevant with the the President’s 101st birthday, at 5:30 pm on January 9, at new thinking on RN’s achievements, and more appetizing to our 1946 1972 the National Archives on the Mall in Washington, D.C. target audience of young people who haven’t made up their minds It’s not only a time for old friends to enjoy warm memories, but to see a about the 37th President,” Malek said. m t ni brief presentation on what’s in store to “reimagine” the galleries of the 23The Foundation has recruited a team of creative and innovative Associa year-old Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda. Special guests will include exhibit designers and filmmakers to vividly portray RN’s extraordinary Nixon family members and United States Archivist David Ferriero. accomplishments and his life style of staying “in the arena” of public service. The program in the elegant Archivist’s Reception Room will feature a panel of If you’re not yet a Nixon Alumni Association member, or if you are and plan to Foundation Chairman Ronald Walker, President Sandy Quinn and the attend on January 9, please call Anne Brown at (714) 364-1120 to receive more renovation team of Foundation Exec. VP Anthony Curtis and former RN aides details. ★
RN Alumni to Gather January 9
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Foundation will present Library renovation