GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – For nearly four decades, the U.S. Secret Service protected President Gerald Ford and his family, beginning during a pivotal time in the nation’s history.
The Secret Service’s protection of President Ford began Oct. 12, 1973, after he was nominated to be President Richard Nixon’s vice president. The Ford Protective detail continued until July 11, 2011, after the passing of First Lady Betty Ford.
This week, the agency reunited with the Ford family in presenting a wreath at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum in commemoration of his 112th birthday. It’s a tradition that the former first lady started in 2007 after her husband's death.
“We carry out Mom’s 2007 instructions to conduct an annual tribute to Dad, his extraordinary life and his legacy,” the President’s daughter, Susan Ford Bales, said told the audience on Monday morning in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
“This ceremony is the combination of two traditions: The first tradition is observed by each deceased president’s birthday and the incumbent president sends a wreath for presentation by a military officer at the deceased president’s tomb. The second tradition was a personal one for my mom,” Ford Bales said.
Family members, friends and guests of the Ford family gathered at Ford’s tomb to pay tribute to his legacy as the nation’s 38th president. Each year, the tradition includes groups and organizations that represent Ford’s legacy.
The Secret Service was invited to participate in this year’s ceremony and presented a wreath, along with wreath presentations from President Donald Trump, President Ford’s family and the Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation. There also were personal remembrances to First Lady Betty Ford.
Resident Agent in Charge Kyle Viegelahn, of the Secret Service’s Grand Rapids Resident Office, delivered remarks on the agency’s behalf. Secret Service personnel also took part in presenting the agency’s wreath.
“To the public, the job of a Secret Service agent appears full of glamour and excitement: working in the White House, traveling on Air Force One, wearing mysterious sunglasses and radio earpieces. Of course, an agent’s job is far less glamorous and far more difficult than the public myth suggests,” Bales Ford told the audience. “It takes a special person – a very special person – to serve as a Secret Service agent. Every agent understands that someday they may be called upon to lay down their life for a complete stranger.”
Bales Ford then gave special recognition to former Special Agents Larry Buendorf, Clint Hill, Tim McCarthy and current Director Sean Curran for their service in the face of danger.
“Those remarkable agents, like countless other agents and support personnel, have stood ready to rush into harm’s way to save the life of their protectee and to do so without a single thought for their own personal safety. Every day – every single day – for over thirty years, Dad, Mom and I were very much aware and deeply grateful for that same dedication of our agents.”
Over 38 years of protection, hundreds of agents served to protect the Ford family on the Vice-Presidential Protective Division, the Presidential Protective Division and the Ford Protective Division. From 1977 to 2011, there were 11 Special Agents in Charge of the Ford Protective Division. Jack Merchant, Darwin Horn, John Flaherty, Larry Buendorf, Bruce Bales, Keith McAtee, Dan McAlister, Frank Donzanti, Robert Devine, Todd Matanich, and Bruce Ward.
The long and storied relationship between the Ford family and the Secret Service included two attempts on his life within a 17-day span in 1975 — one in Sacramento, California, and another in San Francisco, RAIC Viegelahn said during his remarks.
On September 5, 1975, in Sacramento, Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme was near the front of the crowd when she raised a .45 caliber handgun and pointed it at President Ford as he was walking near the California State Capitol. Agent Buendorf, who was not wearing a vest at the time, lunged at the attacker and yelled “Gun!” as he grabbed her weapon and wrestled her to the ground.
Buendorf, who passed away on March 9, injured his right hand when the gun's hammer closed on it, leaving a cut between his thumb and index finger. Fromme was unable to fire a shot, Viegelahn said.
After the assassination attempt, Viegelahn recounted, President Ford credited the Secret Service for its “quick and effective action.”
“Let me say very emphatically that I think that the Secret Service and other law enforcement agencies that were on the job were doing a superb job, and I want to thank them for everything they did in this unfortunate incident,” President Ford said at the time.
The second attempt on President Ford’s life was on September 22 in San Francisco when Sara Jane Moore fired her .38-caliber pistol at President Ford and missed. Oliver Sipple, a former Marine, dove at Moore and grabbed her arm as she fired a second shot that struck a bystander.
“Justice, courage, loyalty, honesty and duty. Those words have special meaning to the men and women of the Secret Service,” Viegelahn said. “They drive us to live up to the standards of those who have paved the way before us.”
