Rapid City man to escort Obama during inauguration - KOTA Territory News
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As President Obama prepares for his second inauguration Monday, a Rapid City native prepares to usher him in.
Chief Warrant Officer 4 Fred Ellwein was a music teacher at Central High School in Rapid City and at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.
He's now living in Washington, D.C., where he'll escort the president down Pennsylvania Avenue with the Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps.
This is Ellwein's third time in the parade, and his last.
Ellwein will walk past the president with the band and salute him one last time before Obama falls in line behind the group.
It's a long-standing tradition.
"We have a very special role in each and every inaugural dating back to April 4, 1789 with our very first president," Ellwein told D.C. ABC affiliate WJLA.
The Old Guard performs about 500 missions every year, like welcoming foreign dignitaries and heads of state.
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