US veterans were denied access to the Vietnam Memorial on Memorial Day because Obama was going to give a speech there.
According to retired Lt General John Sylvester – 0bama was only there for 16 minutes, around 9:00 AM. They had the area closed until 3:00 PM.
FOX Nation reported, via Free Republic:
Due to high security surrounding President Obama’s visit to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on Memorial Day, many veterans were turned away, unable to mourn their fellow soldiers at The Wall.
Retired Army Lieutenant General John Sylvester was one of the vets turned away, and he spoke out about the rebuff on Fox and Friends. Sylvester said that he didn’t take offense on his own behalf, but on behalf of all those who died in the war. He said, “It’s about those 58,000 plus soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines that are represented on that wall. That wall is America’s wall. It is not the presidents wall.”
The organization of which Sylvester is a part, the 11th Armored Cavalry Association, gathers on both Memorial Day and Veterans Day to place a wreath on the wall and to “be able to stand there reflectively, to be able to reach up and touch names of real-life humans, people that we knew, and it is our day as veterans to go and honor those men who are represented on that wall.”