Police World Edition 2 2013

Article

An Audience with President Obama

Donna Powell from 11 Region was so keen to revisit the US after her first trip in 2010, she was the first person to register for Section USA’s 50th Anniversary event. Donna tells of her adventures over the pond.

Officers from various countries at the Memorial Service for fallen USA IPA members

T owards the end of 2010 I learnt about the Section USA friendship week that was going to be held in November 2012. This event was to celebrate the Section’s 50th anniversary. Regular readers of Police World will know that I am very fond of the USA so there was no way I was going to be missing this four night event! The location was Bethesda, Maryland which is on the outskirts of the District of Columbia. One of the key moments of this trip for me was to witness a speech given by President Obama as he addressed attendees at the Veterans Day at Arlington Cemetery. This opportunity came about as I enjoyed a social evening on the Saturday which proved a great opportunity for meeting people. There was a really diverse mix of people - in total there were 207 attendees from 16 different countries. I made acquaintance with Lorraine Altieri from New York Police Department (NYPD) on the previous evening. Lorraine has already become a very good friend. During the evening Calvin and Diana Chow, friends whom I had met on a previous trip, invited me to attend Veterans Day the following day. As this was a free day for all attendees I accepted - especially when I learned there was a possibility I could see the President of the United States of America! The next morning we arrived at Arlington. A bus took us to the amphitheatre where we were able to sit just a 100 metres from the stage where President Barack Obama would be delivering a speech to the Veterans. The Presidential Helicopter landed and shortly after 11am the President and First Lady, as well as the Vice President entered the amphitheatre. President Obama delivered an inspirational speech and I felt very honoured and privileged to see and hear the man himself. Afterwards we explored Arlington Cemetery before getting some lunch together and returning back to the hotel for the evening’s entertainment - which was good food and wine with friends.

Among the other highlights of this fantastic few days was a visit to the International Spy Museum and the National Crime and Punishment Museum. On the morning of this trip I was joining the coach and it was with a pleasant surprise that I saw May-Britt Rinaldo, President of Section Sweden. I had only met May-Britt the month before at the 11 Region half yearly AGM. May-Britt was invited because 11 Region is twinned with May-Britt's Region. We all attended a memorial service that was held at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington DC in memory of our 19 fallen IPA friends of Section USA. I, with several other attendees from countries including Russia, France, Luxembourg, Sweden and various states from the USA wore uniform. It was a very moving event with a piper from the Fire Department. The names of the fallen officers were read out by Steve Livingstone, Chair of the 50th Anniversary event as well as 1st Vice President of Section USA. Another memorable moment occurred on Sunday evening. I finally managed to meet in person Mr Bud Lathrop, the US Associate Secretary to Section UK. After exchanging several emails since I became a member of the IPA in 2009 it was really fantastic to put a face to the emails! I also re-connected with Carmen Alvelo who I met earlier in 2012 in New York City (NYC). The last day of the friendship event arrived too soon. That morning I made acquaintance with Eddie Benitez, who is a retired NYPD detective. He has an apartment in Brooklyn that he lets to IPA members. As part of an extension to my trip I was going to be heading to NYC the following week and Eddie kindly offered the use of his apartment to me, the amazing generosity of IPA members left me speechless as I gratefully accepted Eddie's offer! It was on this final day that we visited Fort McHenry in Baltimore to learn about the history of the American flag and the War of 1812 where the Americans successfully defended their Harbour against the British Navy. After this there

President Obama

was a visit to the harbour front in Baltimore and time for lunch with friends and for others the opportunity of some retail therapy. I took the opportunity to taste some amazing Maryland crabcakes! The evening was formally opened with a ‘Presentation of Colors’ (the flags) by the Combined Forces Color Guard of the Military District of Washington followed by a soloist from a local singing group who sang the US national anthem. The Honor Guard consisted of all branches of the US Military (Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force and Coast Guard). I also got the opportunity to meet the International President Pierre-Martin Moulin who also was in attendance. Section Canada’s founder, Reverend Charles Wright, who was instrumental in the formation of Section USA with the US Founder Harold Litwin, was a guest speaker. The United States Section was formed on 26 February 1962 in Toledo, Ohio with a total of 30 members and was officially recognised in Geneva, Switzerland at the IEC in June 1962. Gifts were then exchanged between the various countries and I got the opportunity to present a beautiful glass globe to Kevin Gordon, President of Section USA . All attendees were asked to sign a banner which had been made for the event, the plan being that the banner would be kept safe for displaying at the 100th anniversary of Section USA, which I calculate that if I am lucky I could attend as a sprightly 84 year old!

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Police World Vol 58 No.2 2013