Quote Originally Posted by apb View Post
Digging around a little on the net and came up with these pieces of info:

the focus of the modern observance is the laying of a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns by the president of the United States, which presidents have taken part in since Lyndon Johnson first did in 1968.

1983: Reagan attended summit meeting; Deputy Secretary of Defense W. Paul Thayer laid wreath at Arlington that year.

George H. W. Bush, did not attend the Arlington ceremony a single time. One year, he attended a Memorial Day ceremony in Rome, but he spent the others vacationing in Kennebunkport, Maine, and attending ceremonies there, while other officials attended the Arlington ceremonies.

On Memorial Day 2002, a day after attending the NATO summit in Rome, President George W. Bush, along with Secretary of State Colon Powell, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony Principi, members of the U.S. Congress, members of the U.S. Armed Services and American veterans celebrated Memorial Day at the Normandy American Cemetery, and Colleville-Sur-Mer, France. Mr. Bush was not at Arlington, but he did honor the thousands of Americans buried in France who helped liberate Europe during World War II.

Andrew
Andrew,

A couple of things can be pointed out.

President GHW Bush became the youngest aviator at the time in Uncle Sam's Canoe Club. Here's a snippet from wiki:

Bush piloted one of four Grumman TBM Avenger aircraft from VT-51 that attacked the Japanese installations on Chichijima. His crew for the mission, which occurred on September 2, 1944, included Radioman Second Class John Delaney and Lieutenant Junior Grade William White. During their attack, the Avengers encountered intense anti-aircraft fire; Bush's aircraft was hit by flak and his engine caught on fire. Despite his plane being on fire, Bush completed his attack and released bombs over his target, scoring several damaging hits. With his engine afire, Bush flew several miles from the island, where he and one other crew member on the TBM Avenger bailed out of the aircraft; the other man's parachute did not open. It has not been determined which man bailed out with Bush as both Delaney and White were killed as a result of the battle. Bush waited for four hours in an inflated raft, while several fighters circled protectively overhead until he was rescued by the lifeguard submarine USS Finback. For the next month he remained on the Finback, and participated in the rescue of other pilots.

Barack Obama caught a few J's on fire and wrote a book during his early years.

HW Bush KNEW people at Arlington, darned near wound up there himself. On the other hand I think maybe Mr. Obama did some community organizing in the area, but I'm not sure.

Any President who actually served his country in the military can at least make a case for missing the Arlington ceremony. President Obama doesn't have leg to stand on.