"One cold November night in 1981, I reported for midnight duty protecting #Bush41 and his family at their residence on the grounds of the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C.
That night, the #intelligence division of the @SecretService passed out a photocopy of a warning that a hit team backed by #Libya had been reported headed for the #UnitedStates as part of a plot to attack senior U.S. government officials.
Vice President #GeorgeHWBush, who had been assigned the radio call sign "Timberwolf," was apparently one of the intended targets. The origin of the information was not passed along, but the #threat was taken very seriously.
After all, Gadhafi had been known to employ terrorists like Carlos the Jackal as high-priced hit men, assisted by the likes of the Italian Red Brigades, the Japanese Red Army and the West German Baader-Meinhof Group. ow.ly/AtVT30mU2Pg
Secret Service K-9 units and the Metropolitan Police Department increased their patrols of the vice presidential residence, and shotguns and submachine guns were issued to agents on guard.
No plot actually unfolded in this case. However, the events certainly reminded me of the seriousness of my job, making me appreciate even more the risks that officials like #Bush41 take, even under the watchful eye of protective measures.
Remembering that situation also makes me thankful that #Bush41, a war hero and dedicated public servant of many years, lived to be a ripe old age before dying of natural causes.
As I watched on television while the dedicated agents from the @SecretService carried Bush's coffin from a funeral home in Houston into a waiting hearse, I was struck by the words that the agency lives by: "#protection never rests."
The men and women serving that cause will stand post until the president's body, after lying in state at the U.S. Capitol and following a funeral service at the Washington National Cathedral, is interred at the @Bush41Library in #Texas.
I’m sure the agents accompanying his coffin are wrestling with a range of emotions, but, like myself, they remain truly honored to serve and be a part of #history."
End of thread
Read @fred_burton's full reflection on #Bush41 here: ow.ly/Q67D30mU2NK
End of thread
Read @fred_burton's full reflection on #Bush41 here: ow.ly/Q67D30mU2NK
