Siouxland will be well-represented at the inauguration of President Donald Trump Monday in Washington D.C.
Christina Lang of Moville, Iowa is making the trip this weekend to the Nation’s Capitol for the festivities so too are eight clinicians from the 185th Air Refueling Wing in Sioux City who left Wednesday and are providing medical support for the contingency of National Guard members.
Lang was able to secure tickets through a lottery system in early November.
“It was much more informal than one would expect. I was actually looking at a senator’s website from a neighboring state and I saw a banner across the top to sign up for tickets to the inauguration, free to the public,” Lang explained.
“As much as I’ve been involved in politics in the past, I wasn’t aware that the barrier to entry was so low. I thought it would be an amazing experience. I put in my name, address, etcetera, and how many tickets I wanted.”
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Lang was just notified earlier this week that she had received tickets and is picking up the tickets Sunday afternoon at the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington D.C.
Friday afternoon she learned the event would be moved indoors due to frigid temperatures expected for the area. With a forecasted high of 25 degrees, Trump will take the oath of office in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda noon Monday.
The change has not dampened her enthusiasm for the trip to see her first inauguration.
“I am not quite sure what the venue will look like. That’s all I know. We will get our tickets in D.C. I am bringing thermal insulated boots and my coat is measured to keep you warm at 20 below zero,” she said.
“We are going to be there regardless at 5 a.m. until after the swearing-in ceremony. We are not moved by it by any means.”
Former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally in Sioux Center, Iowa on Friday. The stop is part of a blitz Trump is making through the state with less than two weeks until the Iowa caucuses. In the coming days, the GOP frontrunner will make stops in Cherokee, Iowa and Sioux City as well.
Lang’s been involved in Woodbury County Republican Party politics for years and works in production at Wells Blue Bunny in Le Mars, Iowa.
“The best government is local,” she said.
Lang was an early supporter of Ted Cruz in the 2016 presidential campaign cycle but has since voted for Trump in 2016, 2020 and 2024.
“It has been amazing how Trump has really broken the narrative of what is left and what is right. The culmination of it was this past election where you have unions, the working class, the majority of the Hispanic vote, Muslim vote managing to come together,” Lang said. (Voter surveys from the Associated Press from after the election showed Trump won 43% of the overall Latino vote, an eight-point increase from 2020.)
A friend will be traveling with her to Washington D.C.
“We are just so excited to be a part of history and be there,” she said.
Watch the full speech from former President Donald Trump at the Sioux City Orpheum Theatre.
With respect to the 185th’s presence, Senior Master Sergeant Vincent De Groot, 185th ARW Public Affairs superintendent, said the outfit has participated in the past four inaugurations, providing similar medical support.
Iowa Air National Guard Tech. Sgt. Dylan Hinds was one of the eight members from Iowa’s 185th Air Refueling Wing who departed from the Sioux City airport Wednesday en route to the nation’s capital to provide medical care for Guard members temporally stationed in Washington for the inauguration, according to a press release.
Hinds is a Guard member who works full-time as a critical care paramedic for Woodbury County.
“We will be doing sick call for approximately 2,500 military members,” said Hinds. “Anybody that gets sick, flu or any minor injuries, we will be taking care of that.”
The Iowa National Guard has asked 60 of its members to join a group of soldiers and airmen in crowd control, transportation and medical support.
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