VMI cadets to march again
in Presidential Inaugural parade
 |
| Virginia Military Institute's Corps of Cadets practices on campus for the inauguration parade. (ALICIA BUDICH/The Rockbridge Report) |
For the 13th time in its 170 -year history, Virginia Military Institute’s Corps of Cadets will march in Tuesday’s inauguration parade.
This time, in what is likely to be one of the most remembered American inaugurations, they could be watched by one million people in addition to the newly sworn-in president, Barack Obama.
“For that moment when you are at the reviewing stand, there is a definite sense of awe and history,” said VMI’s Col. Keith Gibson, who marched in 1977 for President Jimmy Carter’s inauguration.
Gibson, now director of VMI museum operations, said part of what makes the event special is that the presidential inaugural parade is a memory shared by a relatively small number of cadets.
It’s a ceremony the Corps has participated in since 1909, when President William Howard Taft was sworn into office. This year also marks the 100th anniversary of the first group of VMI cadets’ marching in the parade. The Corps has been invited to the parade 15 times. In 2005, the 1,400-member Corps was the largest unit in the inaugural parade for President Bush.
The VMI Corps was one of only three groups selected from Virginia for this inaugural. The other participants from the Commonwealth will be the Hampton University Marching Force and the T.C. Williams High School Marching Band from Alexandria.
Cadet Captain Andrew Krumm said the cadets began practicing for the parade on Tuesday, one day after they returned from their winter break.
“We will practice every day from now until game day, except on Sunday,” he said.
Krumm was responsible for planning and coordinating the hour-and-a-half practices that mimic the Corps’ movement in the parade. At 8 a.m. Saturday, Route 11 in Lexington will serve as Pennsylvania Avenue for a dress rehearsal.
Although they were not invited until December, the cadets have been practicing since October. According to first-classman Cadet James Leenhouts, rumors of an invitation to the parade had been swirling before the students learned of it via email just before winter break.
Because of their invitation to past inaugurations, many cadets believed they had a good chance of being invited to this year’s historic inauguration. The campus was abuzz with excitement for the parade.
“One of the cool aspects of the inauguration parade is that we will be marching down the same streets and in the same uniforms as cadets before us have,” said Leenhouts.
Krumm said VMI alumni often cite the inaugural parade as their favorite school memory, and current cadets say it will be “surreal” to make this memory their own.
“I think it will be a great honor,” said Krumm. “It will be a moment I remember the rest of my life and will be able to tell my kids about.”
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