Americans wear colourful socks to pay final tributes to George H W Bush

Washington, Dec 6: Former US president George H W Bush, who passed away last week, was given a unique farewell on Wednesday, December 5, as he was laid to rest.

Referred to as the US's most successful one-term president who was in office between 1989 and 1993 and played a key role in ending the Cold War and leading the US to victory in the Gulf War of 1991, Bush was known for his passion with colourful socks that became more visible during his days of immobility when he moved around in a wheelchair.

Americans wear colourful socks to pay final tributes to George H W Bush
Image Courtesy: @JoshMertz

His fellow Americans remembered the "sock man" and paid their final tributes to the man by wearing colourful socks on the day of his funeral and shared photos of Twitter using the hashtag #socksforBush.

Bush, the 41st incumbent of the White House, was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2007 and since then, his taste of the colourful accessory seemed to grow even more. According to his daughter Doro Bush Koch to wrote the book "My Father, The President", she wrote that the former president's penchant for colourful socks post diagnosis with the disease was a sign that he never settled with the physical difficulties but only wanted to live a colourful life.

"Brandishing colorful socks is simply his way of making the best of his mobility situation and still finding the joy in life," she penned. Bush was even gifted a pair of socks by his successor and former US president Bill Clinton last year.

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Bush was taken to his final rest wearing socks that signified his service in the army, starting as a naval aviator at the age of 18. The socks have images of flying military jets printed on them.

Here are some of the 'sock' pictures on Twitter posted by Americans to pay their last respects to the former US president:

Story first published: Thursday, December 6, 2018, 8:54 [IST]
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