Throughout my life, which will total 37 years in just four days, I have lived through many incredibly historical moments. Some have been moments of pure joy, some have been times of sadness – and some have changed the very fabric of our lives. But today, I sat in awe, in amazement and in elation – as I watched Barack Hussein Obama say 35 words in front of 1.8 million people – making him the 44th President of the United States – and the first African American to hold the highest office in the land.

Everyone will remember where they were on this historic day. Onlookers stood in the National Mall braving the cold and witnessed history first hand. Students sat in school auditoriums and watched a defining moment in their young lives with their fellow leaders of tomorrow. Citizens across the country stood together on street corners in landmarks and in public gathering areas and cheered together as what many people thought would never happen came to pass…

…and I sat with my colleagues in an Army conference room and graciously welcomed my new President – and new Commander-In-Chief.

As soon as President-Elect Obama uttered the words, “So help me God” and became President Obama – I uttered a long-awaited sigh of relief – because I knew that the “gathering clouds and raging storms” as President Obama said during his 18 minute and 10 second inaugural address was finally over – and eight years of despair and fear will now give way to four and hopefully eight years of hope and promise. In his words, “the world has changed” and we have chosen, again in his words, “hope over fear and unity of purpose over conflict and discord.” And then, I listened intently to his address to the Nation as our President for the very first time – and knew the moment it was over that, as President Obama so eloquently put it – “Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.”

While I sat there transfixed as our new President gave his first address as the leader of our Nation, I lost count how many times I shook my head in either amazement or agreement as to the words he spoke – and the number of times I said to myself or my friend Avery who sat next to me during this historic moment, “Look at that” – referring to the enormous crowd that painted the National Mall in the colors of this great country – and listened to a man speak a stone’s throw from the place where a man told the world he had a dream – shadowed by a monument dedicated to a President who helped plant the seed of that dream – and today – watched that dream come true.

From rightfully proclaiming that today’s event was “a moment that will define a generation,” to ensuring Americans and humans around the world that today marked, “a new era of responsibility,” to reminding everyone who watched or listened that, “a man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant – can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath” – my heart was filled with the first fulfilled promise that our new President brought to the table. Something I have been missing for the last eight years but have been dying to feel for close to a decade – and one emotion that, as it flooded my veins once again warmed my heart with happiness and filled my soul with optimism…

…hope.

In fact, as I watched the inauguration and his address, I was reminded of the last scene of The Shawshank Redemption, which perfectly explains how I feel on this very special and historic day… “I find I am so excited I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it is the excitement only a free man can feel, a free man at the start of a long journey – whose conclusion is uncertain. I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams…

…I hope.”

As he said during his long-fought campaign, “Yes We Can.” As hundreds of millions of Americans can victoriously say tonight, “Yes We Did.” And I am confident enough to echo the words that he said moments ago at the Home States Ball of our future – because I am positive that, with his leadership, wisdom and guidance – these three words will be the cornerstone of the next four years…

“Yes We Shall.”

God Bless you, God Bless President Barack Obama – and God Bless America.