For veterans, the upcoming Tuesday inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama sparks a wide variety of emotions.

In the bloody aftermath of 9/11, the U.S. has been deeply involved in military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Jim Smith, 63, a Vietnam Veteran and service officer with American Legion Post 15, said he is looking forward to the swearing-in ceremony.

“I’ll be at home watching the inauguration,” he said. “It’s exciting to me. It’s something that will be a first. When he’s office, everything he does will be because he’s the first black president. It shouldn’t be that way, but it will be.”

Dennis Adcock, 70, who served with the U.S. Army in Korea, said there is no chance he will watch the inauguration.

“I am totally 100 percent against Obama in any fashion or form,” he said. “I definitely will not be watching him, and I will not be supporting anything he does because of his affiliations against the veterans; his affiliations with terrorist-connected people. In my opinion, he is not a person we need to have in office.”

Smith sees new leadership as a chance to reverse national problems that have grown during the two-term George W. Bush administration.

“This inauguration is the best thing that could happen for us,” he said. “I think so, because for the last eight years we have had nothing but negative everything. Every country hates us. We’re in incredible debt. I think Mr. Bush has put us in a bind like we’ve never been in before in our life. We need somebody with a little bit of intelligence and has the fire behind them to get things done.”

Smith said he hopes veterans and the military will support Obama.

“I believe we have a lot of hope there,” he said. “I believe his wife is very much into the military family issue. I just see a lot of good things happening.”

Adcock wants Obama to turn to the previous administration for guidance on handling the conflicts in the Middle East.

“I think he should ask Mr. Bush for his help and carry on what Mr. Bush has tried to do all this time,” he said. “Because he says he’s going to pull the troops out as soon as he can, and honestly as far as I am concerned that’s a coward’s way out. We’ve got to stay and fight.”

There has been greater stability in Afghanistan and Iraq since the Bush administration sent in troops, Adcock said.

“It’s definitely improved over there so much since Mr. Bush went in there,” he said. “They’ve got so much more freedom now; the kids are going to school, the people are going shopping, the women don’t have to keep their face covered, and they don’t murder them because they talk to someone nowadays.”

Inez Hood, 87, Wagoner, who served in the Army Nurse Corps, said she definitely plans to watch the inauguration.

“My family will probably be here to watch it, too, because Obama is our first black president and he seems really smart,” she said. “I think he will make a really good president. The country really is in bad shape financially, and I hope he can bring it back together. I know it will take time.”

At the Jack C. Montgomery VA Medical Center, the employees have big plans for the inauguration. Spokesperson Nita McClellan said they will start with a patriotic service and singing in the chapel. From 10:30 a.m. until noon the VA Employees Association will host a watch party with cake and punch in the Downing Room, where they will watch the inauguration on a big-screen television.



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