For many Inland attendees, journey to inauguration began long before election | Politics | PE.com | Southern California News | News for Inland Southern California

In tough economic times, they've shelled out big bucks for airfare and lodging. Some have taken off work and pulled their kids out of school. They've traveled the length of the country to stand among millions in the bitter cold and watch Barack Obama become president.

... U.S. Marine Corps Master Sgt. Eric Holland, of Hemet, first heard Obama speak in 2002 while watching television with his mother. They were captivated by Obama's words and realized he had great potential as a leader.

Four years later, Holland was in serving in Iraq when his son, Eric, was shot to death in the violence-plagued Prince George's County of Maryland, where the boy was living with his mother.

Holland, 44, who has spent his entire adult life in the military, was told he didn't have to go back to the war. But having lost his own son, Holland didn't see any way he could abandon the younger soldiers serving under him, he said.

"I had promised a lot of people I'd bring their kids back," he said.