By Howard Wilkinson
The Cincinnati Enquirer

WASHINGTON - George Allen came to Saturday's dedication of the National World War II Memorial without a ticket, but he didn't come away disappointed.

Allen, of Lincoln Heights, served in Europe with Platoon X, a group of black soldiers that was one of the first black combat units to see action in World War II.

He stayed with family members who live in the suburbs and came down to the crowded National Mall Saturday morning hoping he could talk his way into the hour-and-a-half ceremony dedicating the 7-acre World War II Memorial.

Because of security concerns, however, police weren't letting anyone without a ticket into any of the three seating sections, which were filled with 140,000 ticket-holders.

So Allen listened to the loudspeakers from outside Section 1, right next to the memorial, and waited until President Bush and most of the crowd had left the area. The memorial, which had been closed to the public most of the day, was then reopened and Allen took a walk among the 56 granite columns.

"It's a beautiful thing,'' said Allen. "I might have missed the ceremony, but I got to see the memorial. And that's what I came for.''

UNEXPECTED HIGHLIGHT: Walt Santel of Mount Airy watched the ceremony from near the Washington Monument, so far from the stage that he had to watch the 1940s-style entertainment and the speeches on a giant screen TV.

But Saturday's ceremony was not the highlight of the trip to Washington for the 81-year-old former bombardier, who was shot down over Germany in 1945 and held prisoner by the Nazis.

That came the night before, at Washington's MCI Center, where he was among about 16,000 veterans and their families enjoying an entertainment program "Tribute to Veterans.''

"There are only about 25 Medal of Honor winners from World War II still alive, and 15 of them were on that stage,'' Santel said. "I never thought I would get to see one Medal of Honor winner, much less 15. That made the trip for me.''

CICADAS ON SCENE: There were about 140,000 people attending the dedication Saturday, and at least as many cicadas.

Washington, like Cincinnati, is under siege by the flying bugs that were dive-bombing veterans and their families regularly as the crowd sat in the sun-splashed mall.

At one point during one of the speeches, Bernadine Hein of West Chester, sitting in Section 1, just west of the Washington Monument, jumped up on her feet and started slapping herself.

A lone cicada buzzed off her blouse and into the wild blue yonder.

"I hate those things,'' Hein said. "You can't get away from them.''