Honoring Our Veterans: Mike Stapp
 | Author:
Matt Nelson
MT43 News Correspondent |
Honoring Our Veterans: Mike Stapp
US Army Sergeant Mike Stapp was raised in Conyers, Georgia. After 2 years in the Marine Corps Reserves, he transferred to the infantry active-duty army. In the Marine Corps, he worked on weapons. Once in the army, he was selected for Presidential Escort during the Reagan Administration, where he spent three years. Presidential Escort conducts all the ceremonies at the White House and the funerals at Arlington Cemetery. At that time Mike was stationed at Fort Myer, Virginia, Honor Guard Company, the Presidential Escort, 1st BN, 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment.
He was part of the Firing Party Platoon, which conducted the 21-gun salutes for the funerals at Arlington Cemetery and other cemeteries around Washington, D.C. He was with a group of about 50 people who had White House Security Clearances that participated in the ceremonies at the White House. He said it was good duty.
In 1983 Mike was one of six soldiers from the army, and five people from other branches of the services, who were selected to participate in the G7 Williamsburg (Virginia) Economic Summit Meeting. Chaired by President Reagan on May 28th through May 30th, the attendees were Pierre Trudeau, the Prime Minister of Canada; François Mitterrand, the President of France; Helmut Kohl, the German Chancellor; Amintore Fanfani, the Prime Minister of Italy; Yasuhiro Nakasone, the Prime Minister of Japan; Margaret Thatcher, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; and Gaston Thorn, the President of the European Commission.
While en route to Williamsburg, their bus became disabled. They made their way to a truck stop, where arrangements were made for other transportation. They were told that they had plenty of time because President Reagan had moved his arrival time back two hours and in the meantime, another bus was sent to the truck stop. They changed into their dress blue uniforms in the parking lot of the truck stop. The Virginia State Police escorted them to an airfield where helicopters were waiting. They were flown to Langley AFB where Air Force One was circling waiting for the military escort to arrive.
They waited for Air Force One to land. The men were positioned in what is called an Honor Cordon. These are the military people that the President walks through when he steps off Air Force One. Because the Army is the oldest U.S. military service, they were lined up first in the Honor Cordon followed by the Navy, the Marine Corps, and then the Air Force. Mike and his roommate were lined up in front. Mike said, “We later learned President Reagan had waited until his Presidential escort arrived. I thought that was a pretty good honor. So I always tell people that we kept the President waiting!”
Mike’s unit did all the ceremonies with the summit meeting and the world leaders. The world leaders were taken by horse-drawn carriage to the location of the Summit. Due to Mike and his roommate’s position in the Honor Cordon, they were in magazines, newspapers, and TV channels as Margaret Thatcher arrived. That was a good highlight being assigned to that unit.
The Presidential plane is designated Air Force One only when the President is on board. Mike flew in the same Boeing 747 aircraft when he accompanied the body of New York State Representative Benjamin Rosenthal back to New York from Washington, D.C.
Mike participated in the interment of an unknown American soldier who had died in Viet Nam and had been buried in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington Cemetery. However, the soldier was later identified by DNA.
For these achievements, Mike received the Army Commendation Medal, along with other awards.
Mike also worked on a permanent weapons display in the pentagon. After Mike’s tour with Presidential Escort, he was honorably discharged from the Army at Fort Benning, Georgia. For the next 20 years, he served in Law Enforcement, and during that time he joined the Georgia Army National Guard. He also has been heavily involved with radio communications in Montana.
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PhotoCredit: Matt Nelson
Image 1 Caption: Matt Nelson
Image 2 Caption: 3rd Infantry Unit Badge
