Sheriff, SR mayor greet vice president at airfield
Vice President Mike Pence landed in Western Pennsylvania Wednesday morning, and a pair of local figures greeted him.
Butler County Sheriff Mike Slupe and Slippery Rock Mayor Jondavid Longo watched as Pence descended the stairs leading from Air Force 2 at the Pennsylvania Air National Guard's 171 Air Refueling Wing in Coraopolis. Col. Brian Lehew, commander of the wing, also joined the county residents.
Longo said he has met Pence in the past, but never in such an official capacity.
“To be waiting for him at the bottom of the stairwell, to greet and welcome him, was the honor of a lifetime,” Longo said.
Slupe said he was initially planning to attend an event in Freedom, one of the stops in Pence's tour Wednesday, but his plans had changed. Then, he got a call inviting him to see the vice president land.
“That was a no-brainer, of course,” Slupe said.Both men said they were able to convey their support for Pence and President Donald Trump in their re-election efforts.“I did invite him to visit us in Slippery Rock,” Longo said. “I hope that he'll take us up on the offer. We'd love to host him.”Slupe said he conveyed there was a large amount of support from a coalition of Pennsylvania sheriffs supporting the reelection of Trump and Pence.Then, small things happened that neither expected, but greatly appreciated.Pence noticed a pin on Longo's lapel, denoting his service in the U.S. Marine Corps. Pence thanked Longo for his service.
“We talked about his son, who is a Marine as well,” Longo said.Slupe walked away from the exchanging of words with an additional swap. Slupe gifted the vice president his challenge coin, which is a small coin or medallion that bears the insignia of the person's organization.Then, Pence slipped a coin of his own into Slupe's hand.“He handed me his, and I was like, 'Wow,'” Slupe said. “It says VP of the United States on it. It has his signature on it. It's really cool.”Pence then hopped onto a campaign bus, heading first for Cornerstone Ministries in Murrysville for a roundtable discussion about the president's anti-abortion agenda. He later stopped in Beaver County for a “Workers for Trump” rally in Freedom.Both Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden are expected to travel Friday to Shanksville, Somerset County, where 19 years ago Flight 93 crashed after passengers sacrificed their lives to prevent a terrorist attack.
