— Sara Jane Arnett of Newport News was hoping to score tickets to the presidential inauguration. She ended up with a more direct connection.
Arnett, an award-winning military spouse, will attend the swearing-in ceremony at the request of Virginia Sen. Mark R. Warner, who invited her as his special guest.
She is the wife of Capt. Samuel Arnett, who commands the 221st Military Police Detachment at Fort Eustis. He's deployed to Afghanistan and can't attend, so she will bring their oldest son, 5-year-old Gammon, to witness the swearing-in.
"It's a part of history," she said. "We're so excited about it."
Arnett is a former leader of the family readiness group (FRG) for her husband's unit. FRGs help by organizing events for families of deployed soldiers and making sure their needs are met. She is an advisory board member with Operation Homefront of the Virginias and volunteers at Eustis as part of a series on spouse empowerment.
She's also written a children's book for military kids, "My Daddy's a Soldier," which benefits USO of Hampton Roads. The couple has two other sons: Harrison, 3, and Levi, 1. She's pursing a master's degree at Regent University.
In 2011, she received the Heroes at Home Military Spouse Award, sponsored by Flagship and Military Newspapers of Virginia.
Arnett is also a big supporter of the Joining Forces initiative, spearheaded by First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden to mobilize support of military families. She had requested tickets to the inauguration from an official at Joining Forces who had responded positively to Arnett's book. But Arnett credits Warner's staff for passing along her wishes to the senator.
Getting a call at the house from a U.S. senator was pretty neat.
"The whole thing was very personal," she said.
Military news blog by reporter Hugh Lessig
