Mom Goes to the Governor's Mansion

A few weeks ago my mother received an invitation to a special reception at the Governor's Mansion (Executive Mansion) for former Prisoners of War and their widows. Most of you know that my father was a Prisoner of War of the Japanese in the Philippines during World War II where he was forced to participate in the Bataan Death March. He passed away 3 years ago this month. He would have loved the reception which was held yesterday. Walter and I went with Mom.

We first drove to the Washington Department of Veterans Affairs in Olympia and took a group shuttle bus from there. We had to pass through a security gate before approaching the mansion where all our ID's were checked.

The reception was a really nice event. There were hors d'oeuvres and sparkling cider in the dining room. Then they seated all the POW's in a good sized room which was full to overflowing. Some of us "youngsters" needing to stand in the next room. The reception was hosted by First Gentleman Mike Gregoire. They call him "First Mike"! The head of the state VA announced presentations of medals - Purple Hearts and Bronze Stars. Many had received these medals in the mail and never before had a proper presentation. Each medal recipient got their picture taken with First Mike.

Mike Gregoire also read aloud a proclamation by the Governor (who could not be there due to a busy schedule) naming Monday, April 9th, 2007 Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day. He got a little choked up as he read it, feeling honored to have so many former POW's in the room. You can see a copy of the proclamation here.

Mom also home with a lovely certificate of appreciation for Dad's service. It was also nice to see lots of Mom and Dad's old friends there who they knew from the local American Ex-Prisoners of War organization. Some of these people were very helpful to me when planning Dad's funeral.

We were not allowed to take photos inside the event but I got a couple in the foyer and out front. The first one here is Mom entering the mansion and the second one is her standing in front of the stairs just inside the main doors. If you would like to see a few more pics including the grounds as we arrived you can get to the full album by clicking either picture and using the Next and Prev prompts in Webshots.