SPECIAL TO THE PVT Drs. Pilar and Frank Toppo bundle up during the Obama inauguration. Advertisement

Near the front of a crowd, estimated at anywhere from 1 million to 2 million people witnessing Barack Obama's inauguration speech on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., Jan. 20, were Pahrump husband and wife doctors Frank and Pilar Toppo.

A well-known doctor to local veterans, Frank Toppo received tickets from U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev. They left Saturday, Jan. 17 and returned Jan. 21 with a cold as a souvenir.

"It was a real honor for both of us to go back there. It was an experience of a lifetime. He's an interesting man who has the eyes and ears of the world. He truly does. This is John Kennedy times 10," Frank Toppo said.

They sat a row behind talk show host Oprah Winfrey, arguably the strongest Obama supporter. Their other neighbors were boxing promoter Don King and television pscyhologist Dr. Ruth Westheimer.

"You couldn't get any closer unless you were sitting on the stage with them," Frank Toppo said.

But Frank Toppo was impressed to hear the stories of plain Americans who attended the inauguration, like a pair of elderly, black women who worked at a store in rural Kentucky who were given tickets by U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., an occasional visitor to their store. They rode the bus to Washington.

"I'm a social Democrat, always have been, always will be. I believe we are our brother's keeper and surely Democrats believe that," Frank Toppo said.

But he added, "I voted for Ronald Reagan. I thought he was a good man. He was good for the country at the time. I voted for John Ensign, who was a Republican."

They both described the trip as a life-changing experience, not only to be in Washington for the historic inauguration of the first black president, but to feel the euphoria and hope for the future.

"There was such a feeling of peace and hope throughout the whole day, and it wasn't fun standing out in the cold, standing there just waiting in line to get security checks to be able to get into the actual inauguration. You think people could've lost their patience but nobody did. Everybody was just so cordial, nobody pushed and shoved, there was none of that you would normally get in big crowds of people," Pilar Toppo said.

The inauguration was almost a week-long party. The spirit of comraderie extended to the big rock concert at the Washington Monument the weekend before the inauguration with superstars like Bruce Springsteen, U2, Beyonce and John Mellencamp.

Pilar Toppo recalled how two men, one black and one white, helped her husband, who has had knee surgeries, climb up a wall to take a shortcut into the concert.

Frank Toppo said they were advised, when staying in the bed and breakfast in their northeast Washington D.C. neighborhood, to be back by dark. But he said there was never a problem.

"Everybody was friendly on the streets. Coming home at midnight, one in the morning, taking the subway, people stopped and said hello. It was amazing," he said.

Pilar Toppo said taxi drivers they met from Ethiopia and Nigeria commented they hoped Obama could help their countries as well.

"He has a lot to carry on his shoulders. I think over time he will accomplish a lot of good things for humanity, not just for the U.S. but all over," she said.

People in the subways were packed like sardines, the Toppos recalled. Some trains were totally full and passed them by.

Some observers, accustomed to Obama's oratory, expected his inauguration speech to be more profound than it was.

"I think he's preparing us for what's going to happen, and it's going to be a time of great sacrifice for all of us. I don't think there'll be any doubt he'll probably cut Medicare, he'll cut reimbursements. It's going to be a time of sacrifice, pure and simple," Frank Toppo said. "His speech was very sober: Get ready, we have sacrifices to make and we're going to make it through this together."

That night, the Toppos attended the Western States Ball, one of 11 balls the Obamas visited but what they said was the biggest one. Pilar Toppo said she took salsa dancing lessons from Latin superstar Marc Anthony, who was up on stage. Jennifer Lopez also entertained the audience, she said.

Besides the rock concerts and the balls, the trip was part business. Toppo said he's been asked to provide recommendations to Reid on how to improve the VA.

"His plan is to improve veteran's health care and all the while save a lot of money, and hopefully they will increase the income to the Veteran's Administration by $100 million a year," Frank Toppo said. "I think we're going to see more patients, we're going to increase our revenues and decrease our expenses to a lot of the administrative stuff they're stuck into and deliver better health care at a better price."

On the local scene, Frank Toppo said, "We're going to get a better clinic, oh sure. We're going to get more doctors. I may not be one of them, I may be leaving the VA, but before I leave it's going to be a different place."

The VA is already one doctor short, Frank Toppo said; if he leaves there will be a bigger gap to fill. He expressed frustration dealing with the VA bureaucracy and the long hours.

Frank Toppo passed along some political scuttlebutt from inside the Beltway: former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is planning to move to Nevada to challenge Sen. Reid for his seat in the 2010 election.

So if Obama should win re-election, will they go to his second inauguration?

"Absolutely not. No, that was a once in a lifetime experience, ought to have been there, proud to have been there as an American, but that was probably it. It's tough," Frank Toppo said.