Retired Marine four-star General James ‘Mad Dog’ Mattis tied the knot over the weekend — in a ceremony that was presided over by an Elvis Presley impersonator.
According to a Monday report from Politico’s Playbook, Mattis — who most recently served as Secretary of Defense under former President Donald Trump — wed physicist Christina Lomasney on Saturday. The happy couple actually held two separate ceremonies to celebrate their nuptials — one before a priest on the banks of the Columbia River, and a second in Las Vegas with Elvis close at hand. The two reportedly met in a bar.
Robert Harward, retired United States Navy SEAL and a former Deputy Commander of the United States Central Command, served as Mattis’ best man. Harward was also offered a position in the Trump administration — he was tapped to replace retired General Michael Flynn as national security advisor — but turned down the job.
👀 Former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis got married this weekend, per @playbookdc: https://t.co/S1356KERdr pic.twitter.com/WH8FDHtwvb
— Daniel Lippman (@dlippman) June 28, 2022
People on Twitter had some fun with the idea of Mattis — whose Marine call sign was CHAOS — getting hitched by an Elvis impersonator.
“Shortly after this photo was taken, Mattis looked to his left, his eye began to twitch, and he proceeded to yell at Elvis. ‘Fingers extended and joined when making a knife hand, You!'” Army veteran Alex Plitsas joked.
Shortly after this photo was taken, Mattis looked to his left, his eye began to twitch, and he proceeded to yell at Elvis. “Fingers extended and joined when making a knife hand, You!” https://t.co/kgSsXYAaxX
— Alex Plitsas 🇺🇸 (@alexplitsas) June 28, 2022
“Free sequel idea for Baz Luhrmann,” NBC reporter Daniel Arkin added.
“Incredible photo. The Warrior Monk finally gets married,” MSNBC columnist Eric Michael Garcia tweeted.
Stars and Stripes Pentagon reporter Caitlin Doornbos added, “Imagine meeting Mattis in a bar. Congrats to the happy couple.”
“No notes, this is perfect,” Task and Purpose Army reporter Haley Britzky commented.
US News reporter Paul Shinkman shared photos of both ceremonies, noting that Mattis appeared to be wearing the same outfit in both photos, while his new bride wore a different dress to the Vegas chapel — the Little Church of the West — than she did for the riverside ceremony last week. “CHAOS has one wedding uniform. Anything more is un-Spartan,” he said.
CHAOS has one wedding uniform. Anything more is un-Spartan. https://t.co/wrJ5DqjfRj pic.twitter.com/O5yt9E8thM
— Paul D. Shinkman (@PDShinkman) June 28, 2022
Military streaming network @Veteran_TV summed it up nicely: “The newlyweds met in a bar and had a wedding ceremony with a Vegas Elvis presiding. This man is a MARINE.”
“Warms our enlisted souls to see there was a Vegas element,” @ZeroBlog30 agreed.