A crowd of about 300 invited guests, including Astros manager A.J. Hinch, has greeted the arrival of a plane carrying former President George H.W. Bush’s remains to Texas.
The military aircraft, nicknamed Special Air Mission 41 in honor of the 41st president, landed in Houston on Wednesday evening after a flight from Washington. Bush will lie in repose overnight at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Houston.
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Among those in attendance were past and present members of Houston’s various professional sports teams, including Hinch, former Texans receiver Andre Johnson and former Rockets player Calvin Murphy.
Bush was a big sports fan and regularly attended Astros, Rockets and Texans games. He and his wife, Barbara, could often be seen sitting behind home plate at Astros games.
A military band played and guns and cannons were fired symbolically as Bush’s body was taking to a waiting hearse in Houston.
As former First Lady Laura Bush and her husband, former President George W. Bush, left the plane and were walking on the tarmac Wednesday evening, Laura Bush waved at the crowd.
Many in the crowd waved back at her. A short time later, the hearse left for St. Martin’s Episcopal Church, where the former president will lie in response overnight ahead of funeral services Thursday morning.
More:
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