By Chelsea Stevenson
After a long journey from Lexington, 1,450 VMI cadets marched in President Obama’s inaugural parade Monday. VMI was the last group to pass the Presidential reviewing stand, at about 6 p.m., and the cadets were the largest group in the parade by far.
The cadets boarded 28 buses in Lexington at 6 a.m. and the convoy was led by a VMI police car all the way to Washington, D.C. Students spent most of the day waiting in the Pentagon parking lot in Northern Virginia and going through intense security.
“The day was a big build-up to 10 seconds of excitement,” said First Classman Russell East. “Seeing the President only 15 yards from you is something that is hard to explain. You see him on TV all the time, but to see the person for the first time is humbling. In all, I am glad VMI did well; I think we represented our school magnificently.”