Queen Elizabeth pays tribute to U.S. soldiers

updated 5:33 p.m. ET May 8, 2007

WASHINGTON - Queen Elizabeth II paid tribute to American soldiers with a trip to the National World War II Memorial Tuesday, winding up her six-day American visit.

Accompanied by former president George H. W. Bush, a veteran of the war, and his wife, Barbara, the queen placed a wreath in honor of the 400,000 U.S. soldiers who died. It said: “In memory of the glorious dead.”

Afterward there was a drum roll and a bugler played taps.

Dressed in a blue suit and hat, the queen then joined a park ranger for a walk around a fountain at the center of the memorial, stopping to look at the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument before veterans of the war, some in wheelchairs.

One of the veterans Marjorie Gallun, 85, who said she served in the Marine Corps told the queen: “We are happy to have you here.”

‘Happy to be here’
The queen politely replied: “We are happy to be here.”

Outside the memorial, there was a crowd of several hundred behind a picket fence, on which two Union Jacks were draped. The crowd applauded as the queen’s limousine went by.

It was the British monarch’s first visit to the war memorial, which was dedicated in 2004. The queen, a teenage princess during World War II, served her country in the war as a driver in the Women’s Auxiliary Territorial Service, the women’s branch of the British Army.

She was to conclude her Washington visit by hosting a dinner for the Bushes at the British Embassy Tuesday night, a return favor for the white-tie state dinner Bush put on for the royal couple Monday night at the White House.

Message from space
It was a full day of sightseeing in the U.S. capital. The queen started off with a trip to NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in suburban Maryland, where she heard three astronauts describe their work aboard the international space station.

NBC video White-tie affair May 8: NBC's David Gregory reports on President Bush's white-tie dinner for Queen Elizabeth II, the first such event during his presidency. Today show

The crew members — American Suni Williams and two Russians, Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and Oleg Kotov — answered questions from British-born NASA astronaut C. Michael Foale, who stood next to the queen at the center.

The video link was one-way, so the crew members could not see the queen standing by silently wearing a large yellow hat.

After hearing from the astronauts, the British monarch toured Goddard and helped plant a tree in the garden commemorating her visit. The flight center is home to the largest organization of scientists and engineers in the United States, according to NASA.

Earlier, President Bush’s wife, Laura, joined the queen and her husband for a visit to Children’s National Medical Center, where the queen spoke to sick children, who were making cookies.

The royal couple were to fly back to England Tuesday night.

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