MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, Calif. -- The Officers' Club is now home to a custom-made jacket President George W. Bush wore during his address to area Marines, Sailors and their families here Aug. 14.

In preparation for the presidential visit last August when President Bush addressed San Diego, White House staff members contacted the Officers' Club in hopes of being able to give the president something to wear as he stepped off Air Force One to greet Lt. Gen. James T. Conway, commanding general, I Marine Expeditionary Force.

"Scott Shadian with the White House Communications Agency called me about 48 hours before the president was supposed to land and said that he wanted something light weight and distinctly military, if not Marine Corps," said Mary Joe Heath, manager, Miramar Officers' Club. "A nylon flight jacket seemed out of the question, so I described a tanker jacket to him and he said that it would be perfect."

But finding something presidential proved to be more challenging than expected.

"We went over to the Uniform Shop within an hour to find a size 43 regular tanker jacket, but as it turns out tanker jackets only come in even sizes," explained Heath. "With help from an employee at the Uniform Shop, we contacted the Uniform Support Center (a manufacturer) to see if they could custom make a size 43.

"The answer was 'yes,' but it could take weeks. When we explained who it was for, the time frame dropped to three days. This was still too long for us to wait, so I suggested that we make identical jackets, one each in size 42 regular and 44 regular, and let the president decide which he preferred."

Like most Marines experience from time to time, shopping for the right size and actually finding it in stock can even be a problem for the President of the United States.

"Our Uniform Shop was out of both 42 and 44 regulars, so we called Camp Pendleton, Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Marine Corps Base Quantico and then Marine Barracks at 8th and I ... nobody had 42 or 44 regulars," said Heath. "We made more phone calls to the Uniform Support Center and we were able to have a 42 and a 44 regular shipped directly to our Uniform Shop from the manufacturer."

With the jackets on the way, the problem of what to put on the jacket had to be resolved.

"Our patch shopping went a little smoother," recalled Heath. "Scott (Shadian) liked the Miramar patch, but said the colors and the finely printed words would not work well on camera.

He selected an eagle, globe and anchor in olive green and gold for the right chest and an American flag in desert colors for the left shoulder. Twenty-four hours later after the jackets had arrived, I was too swamped with other White House Press Corps needs, so Linda Gerardi with Marine Corps Community Services volunteered to take the jackets and patches over to Chesty's on Miramar Road to have the patches sewn on and the words 'George W. Bush, Commander in Chief' embroidered on the left chest."

Heath said Chesty's did a very quick turnaround and had the jackets back by the end of the day.

The next morning when Air Force One landed, the finished jackets were taken up the back stairs into Air Force One for the president to try on, said Heath.

"I asked if the jacket that was not selected could be returned to us as a keepsake for the O' Club and within a day or so after the president's departure, the 42 regular was returned to me via 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing and then the Miramar Air Museum, where it had made stops," Heath said. "Once we got the jacket at the O' Club, I had it professionally framed and so now the jacket the president didn't wear, or at least tried on, is hanging in the O' Club."

Heath explained that the hardest part of the ordeal to get the jackets made was getting people to believe that they were really for the president.

"Everyone from the Uniform Shop to the manufacturer to Chesty's expressed stunned disbelief when we told them who the jackets were for," said Heath.

"But once they were convinced they were extremely cooperative and understood the urgency of our requests.

"Everyone that participated in getting the jackets made on time was bursting with pride when the president stepped off Air Force One wearing 'our' jacket."