One Charleston
teenager was the only youth to bear his state's banner in President Barack
Obama's inauguration parade.
Breece Ferrell, 15, heard about the chance to participate in the
parade from a family friend. After traveling to Washington,
D.C., on his 15th birthday,
Ferrell was placed in charge of section five of the parade.
"I was in charge of keeping track of two busloads of high
school band people," Ferrell said. "I was showing them around and making sure
they knew where to go, until it came time for the actual parade to happen and I
held the sign for West Virginia
and helped set the pace for them and lead them."
Ferrell said the section leaders were paired with someone
from the military, who helped with the logistics of the parade. Each section
included different things, Ferrell said. A color guard marched in front of him
while behind Mexican dancers representing freedom of religion did a traditional
dance.
"It was mainly high school bands, but there was a plethora of
different things going on," Ferrell said of the parade. "The overall parade
itself was massive. It was a massive operation."
The inauguration parade was held up for two hours because the
inauguration lunch was behind schedule. Because of the hold up, Ferrell said many
spectators had left the parade route, and it was dark by the time section five
began marching.
"It was amazing to think I was doing this," he said. "Even though
the parade had stopped and was held up for two extra hours, it was a really
good feeling to walk down there like that."
Ferrell said his military counterpart was helpful and despite
being the only youth flag bearer, he wasn't fazed.
"I sort of let my natural characteristics and leadership take
over," he said. "Everything was basically the same (as with adult flag bearers)
even though there weren't other youth doing it."
Obama was sworn in for his second term Sunday. The inauguration celebrations took place Monday.
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