Earl Smith is the Man! [View all]

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Last edited Fri Jan 18, 2013, 12:00 PM - Edit history (2)

Vietnam war veteran Earl Smith at the Hyatt hotel in Austin, Texas (Erich Schlegel)


Earl Smith is the man behind a military patch that President Obama prizes

AUSTIN, Tex. — That February morning in 2008 found Barack Obama decidedly out of sorts . . .

As he rode the service elevator in the backway of a convention hotel here, the snowy-haired African American operating it turned suddenly. He held out a black-and-gold bit of fabric embroidered with a screaming eagle.

“Senator Obama, I have something I want to give you,” the man said. “I’ve carried this military patch with me every day for 40 years, and I want you to carry it, and it will keep you safe in your journey.” Obama tried to refuse, but the older man persisted.

Later that day, Obama and his aides discussed the encounter. The future president pulled the patch from his pocket, along with about a dozen other items people had pressed upon him.

“This is why I do this,” he said. “Because people have their hopes and dreams about what we can do together.”


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Then-presidential candidate Barack Obama with his lucky charms backstage before a rally at Muhlenberg College Gym in Allentown, Pa. (Callie Shell/Aurora Photos)