Silverton Man Recalls Meeting With President

Statesman Journal - Salem, OR, USA

He was invited to have breakfast with Bush on Memorial Day
By Steve Keister • Special to the Appeal Tribune

December 31, 2008

Have you ever dreamed about meeting someone famous and then having the opportunity? This happened earlier this year to Staff Sgt. Tim Chambers from Silverton.

Chambers had the opportunity to have breakfast with President Bush while visiting Washington D.C., during the Memorial Day weekend.

Chambers started going to Washington eight years ago as part of the Korean War Commemoration Committee. He went to help educate people about that war.

Each year he would spend the Memorial Day near the site. It was there he learned about a group known as Rolling Thunder. This group is a POW/MIA awareness organization. In addition he learned about Run for the Wall which is Vietnam veterans who go to the Vietnam Memorial and say goodbye to those who died in that war. They have done this the past 22 years.

The next weekend after learning about these groups he came to the memorials in his dress blues and he walked around the memorials and shook hands and thanked those visiting there. Chambers says he wanted to do something special to thank those who served their country and those who supported the truth.

His idea was to go into the street and begin saluting. After four hours, 400,000 motorcycles rolled around him. Chambers said he had roses all over his feet and crowds from both sides of the street rushed him to thank him for what he was doing.

He spent an additional three hours giving handshakes and hugs to people who expressed their thanks for welcoming home the troops.

This year when Chambers went to Washington he put up a POW table. As part of the yearly motorcycle event the White House chief of staff took part. Later that day, Chambers said, while he was at his table signing photos, the chief of staff walked by and asked his grandmother what he was doing and she filled him in and gave him Chambers cell phone number.

About two hours later his cell phone rang. His girlfriend answered the phone and the chief of staff said President Bush was amazed at what he was doing for the veterans and invited Chambers, his girlfriend and grandmother to the White House for breakfast with the president on Memorial Day. Besides Bush, there were 30 people at the breakfast.

"What was neat was the president called me by my first name," Chambers said. "It made it real personable that he really knew who I was."

As part of the day's events Chambers and his relatives were escorted over to Arlington Cemetery and sat in the front row while Bush gave a speech.

This was not the first meeting between Chambers and Bush. Chambers assisted in helping carry out the wounded and deceased after a plane crashed into the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001. Bush came through the Pentagon on the following day and surveyed the area and shook Chambers hand, thanking him for what he was doing. In addition he had the opportunity to go to Bush's first inauguration and was at the stage where Bush was sworn in.

A few years ago Chambers spoke at Silvercrest Elementary School in Silverton. He went to the school, educated the students about POW awareness and inspired the students about being good Americans.

In addition he had them write a letter to a POW family to console them for their loss and then they wrote a letter to their representative in congress. Another part of this special event included veterans on their motorcycles coming to the school and the kids got paired up with a veteran who walked the last mile with them where they enjoyed a barbeque together.

Chambers is stationed at Camp Pendleton California but has returned to Oregon for the holidays. He has been in the Marine Corps for 14 years.

Chambers also speaks at military funerals and has studied military history. Chambers is scheduled to leave for Afghanistan in February to continue to serve his country.