Vice President Joe Biden and his entourage were spotted in downtown Tacoma today, as he prepared to go to Fort Lewis Tuesday to pay respects and speak at the memorial ceremony for seven Stryker brigade soldiers. They were killed together when their vehicle hit a concealed bomb in southern Afghanistan two weeks ago.

The men being honored Tuesday are Staff Sgt. Luis M. Gonzalez, 27, Sgt. Fernando Delarosa, 24, Sgt. Dale R. Griffin, 29, Sgt. Issac B. Jackson, 27, Sgt. Patrick O. Williamson, 24, Spc. Jared D. Stanker, 22, and Pfc. Christopher I. Walz, 25.

Their memorial will start at 1 p.m. in the North Fort Chapel. It is not open to the general public, but is shaping up to be a major Northwest event, with a number of public figures attending and strict rules in place for media coverage.

Biden’s visit will mark the first time a U.S. president or vice president has participated in any of the dozens of memorial ceremonies for fallen soldiers at the local Army post since the start of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is also the first time either Biden or President Barack Obama is known to have visited Fort Lewis.

In June 2004, President George W. Bush made a thank-you appearance before 6,000 people, mostly soldiers, in a hangar at Gray Army Airfield, and also met privately with wounded soldiers. Vice President Dick Cheney rallied troops at McChord Air Force Base in December 2003.

The Oct. 27 deaths of the seven soldiers from 5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division was the deadliest day for Fort Lewis since the two wars began. And it quickly grabbed the attention of the White House. Obama went to Dover, Del., to meet the late-night flight carrying the flag-draped coffins of the soldiers.

For Biden, the current visit is believed to be his first to the Tacoma area since his political rally at Cheney Stadium two weeks before he and Obama won the 2008 election.

His arrival today created a spectacle and briefly shut down parts of downtown Tacoma, where he is believed to be staying overnight at the Hotel Murano.

Secret Service agents, Tacoma police, Washington State Patrol and other law enforcement paced the hotel lobby at 4:30 p.m. One witness said a procession of SUVs and police cars had snaked to the hotel’s entrance about an hour earlier.

Kerry Kelly, a senior administrative assistant at Bank of New York Mellon, said she went down to her building’s lobby to step outside for a smoke, but couldn’t get out. She was part of a group of about 20 people held at the entrance while the entourage rolled up across the street.

All of a sudden, she said, a figure emerged from one of the cars surrounded by agents. Was it Biden? She thinks so – at least it looked like his hair from the back.