All this while the Obama White House was busy turning away MoH recipients and their families.
http://www.military.com/news/article/wh-tour-denied-for-hero-heros-family.html?ESRC=navy-a.nlSeptember 30, 2010
Spokesman-Review
Medal of Honor recipient Thomas Norris was turned away from a White House tour on Sept. 25 after the Secret Service neglected to clear him. Also nixed from the tour was the family of another Medal of Honor recipient, the late Vernon Baker, because the hero's grandson was wearing a T-shirt and shorts.
The 10-year-old boy's T-shirt was emblazoned with the image of his celebrated grandfather, who had just been buried a day earlier at Arlington National Cemetery. Norris, a Navy lieutenant who was awarded the Medal of Honor for rescuing two downed pilots in Vietnam, had accompanied accompanied the Baker family to Washington, D.C., for the military burial.
Baker was awarded the Medal of Honor for heroic actions in an attack on a German stronghold during World War II.
Since the incident the White House has moved to make amends by inviting the Baker family and Norris back.
“We would have loved to have hosted 10-year-old Vernon and his family at the White House and we have reached out to the Baker family and Lt. Norris to communicate our deep regret and invite them back to the White House,†spokesman Adam Abrams said. “This family, as well as Lt. Norris, have given so much to our nation and they have our sincerest appreciation and our apologies for this misunderstanding.â€
Norris, a retired FBI agent and Navy Seal, said he was turned away at the White House by an employee of the Office of Management and Budget because the Secret Service had not run a security clearance on him.
"He apologized," Norris said. "He told me the Secret Service has informed me they haven't had time to do a background check and you can't get in."
Moments later, after Norris gave up his place in the tour to the Baker family's driver, who had clearance, Baker's grandson, Vernon Pawlik, 10, was denied entry because he was wearing shorts and the T-Shirt bearing his grandfather's image. Also on the tour were Vernon Baker's widow, Heidy and her daughter Alexandra.
At that point the family gave up and left the White House, Norris said.
It's unclear why tour officials made reference to the boy's attire. There's no dress code for White House tours and the St. Maries Gazette newspaper in the family's hometown reported today that the family had checked about possible dress codes ahead of time just to make sure.
Norris said he wondered why when questions arose no one in charge stepped forward to assess the circumstances.
"You would think there would be someone there to stand up and say, 'I'm a supervisor and we can make an exception" for a living Medal of Honor recipient and the grandson of another.
Norris said that little Vernon was looking forward to the tour and the chance to meet President Obama. He even bought a copy of Obama's book, in case he got a chance to get the president's signature.
As it turned out, Obama was out of town on Saturday.
The whole incident "is beyond understanding," said Norris, who was awarded the nation's highest honor for military service in 1976 for his actions in Vietnam in 1972.
Vernon Baker, the boy's grandfather, was the only living black World War II veteran to receive the Medal of Honor for uncommon valor. In 1945 he rallied the troops after their commander deserted and took a German stronghold in Italy, taking out three machine gun nests, two bunkers and an observation post.
