No matter how many times you witness it, you still get a lump in your throat.
I am talking about the changing of the guard ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C. I was there last week. Every Mother's Day I accompany the hundreds of area sixth graders from our area on their trip to our nation's capital for their annual Safety Patrol outing.
Eastern Travel/Oneonta Bus Lines has been putting these trips together longer than anyone can remember. My own trip was in 1959. Many others had already gone before me.
I remember that my Safety Patrol trip was the first time that I had been away from my parents for an overnight trip. It was also the farthest I had ever wandered from my hometown.
It was great fun being with all the kids my same age on a real adventure. My roommate was my classmate Billy Kent from Sidney. All of us were admonished to "not get into any trouble on the trip," and we adhered to that rule. Still, we made it one of the great experiences of our youth.
I can still remember the changing of the guard at the cemetery. The silence. The solemnity. The seriousness. It has stayed with me for five decades. I have seen this ritual a dozen times over the years, and it never fails to move me.
This past Mother's Day was a brilliant sun-drenched morning when more than 400 area school kids walked up the grassy slopes of Arlington Cemetery to the majestic amphitheater at the top.
Up they quietly walked past rows of identical white gravestones, looking left and right. Past the graves of President John F. Kennedy and boxer Joe Louis. Past the cenotaph of the departed astronauts who died in our space flights. Past the Medal of Honor winners and the privates.
I watched as they filed into the viewing area, dazzling in their multihued shirts, matching their classmates from each of the many schools. They proudly wore the white straps that denoted them as Safety Patrollers.
I watched as they dutifully put their little hands over their hearts and then observed wide-eyed as the crisp, clean-cut servicemen marched out their 21 steps ad infinitum for time immemorial. The students were respectful and in good order.
After, they all filed into the amphitheater where I addressed them about the significance of Arlington. I call it "The place where the bill for our freedom was paid in full."
They got it. They absorbed every word of my speech. I like to think I reached them about what it means to be an American. After, I escorted all 400 over to Audie Murphy's grave where I told his story to them. Murphy was the most decorated soldier in World War II, and his life story is inspiring.
The kids got it. They all took photos of this Medal of Honor winner's plain, white gravestone.
Eastern Travel has been the travel expert in central New York for decades, and no event shows this with more clarity than their annual school trip to D.C. The whole organization of the hundreds of kids, the various museums and venues they go to, the expert coach drivers, the accompanying sheriffs and medical personnel, the army of chaperones, the herding them in and then out of the restaurants, well, it is all done with precision, care and sensitivity.
And, of course, D.C. never fails to amaze. The Vietnam Memorial Wall is still sad, the Newseum is still one of the most interesting museums in the nation, the giant pandas never fail to entertain the kids at the Washington Zoo and the new Martin Luther King Memorial is as awe-inspiring as it gets.
Cam Morris, owner of Eastern Travel, is to be commended for coordinating this unforgettable trip of a lifetime each year for so many hundreds of our local youngsters.
And I thank Cam personally for allowing me the rare opportunity to come along each year and impart whatever words of wisdom I can on these budding young scholars at this hallowed and famous place. As unforgettable as the trip is for the kids, it is even more so for me as an adult.
Next week, President Obama will address the nation on Memorial Day from the exact same spot at Arlington Cemetery that I stood and addressed the hundreds of school kids on Mother's Day.
I like to think that I "warmed it up" for him!
I'll catch you in two ...
"Big Chuck" D'Imperio can be heard on weekdays beginning at 6 a.m. on WDOS-AM 730 in Oneonta, and also on Thursday nights from 7-9 p.m. on WSRK-FM 103.9 for his "Oldies Jukebox Show." You can find "Big Chuck" on Facebook under Upstate New York Books. He invites you to contact him at wdosbigchuck@aol.com. His columns can be found at www.thedailystar.com/bigchuck.
Columns
Safety Patrol trip gave glimpse of inspiring sights
- Big Chuck D'Imperio
-
-
Safety Patrol D.C. visits never get old
I asked Cam Morris, head of Eastern Travel/Oneonta Bus Lines, how many years her company has been handling the Safety Patrol trip to Washington, D.C.
Continued ... - My pal Brucie, savior of Sidney's hospital
- Catching a whiff of 'Vermont Vapor'
- Selections from the virtual mailbag
- Recalling days of 'Doughnut King'
-
Safety Patrol D.C. visits never get old
- Cary Brunswick
-
-
We've become our own worst enemies
The past month has been marked by a seeming unprecedented number of man-made tragedies, as distinct from those caused by violent outbursts of the natural world, such as earthquakes, hurricanes and tsunamis.
Continued ... - Plenty of blame to go around for Bangladesh horror
- Obama is going against his word on Social Security
- Reflecting on a Florida trip
- Those magnificent spies in their flying machines
-
We've become our own worst enemies
- Chuck Pinkey
- Guest Column
-
-
Records seizure is an insult to free press
Distrust of government secrecy has been elevated to an exceptional level with the disclosure the Justice Department covertly examined two months of Associated Press phone records to determine who leaked details to the AP about a foiled terrorist plot.
Continued ... - The evangelical view of same-sex marriage
- Manor's fate will be Otsego board's legacy
- A closer look at our economy - Part II
- Use fracking to fill budget gaps
-
Records seizure is an insult to free press
- Lisa Miller
-
-
A view from above
Fire towers in the Catskill Mountains have always been destination points, built to capture some of the region’s best views. These sentinel stations served an important role for the earliest possible sightings of forest fires in the remote mountain ranges. But the fire towers and those who manned them fulfilled a multitude of other roles as well.
Continued ... - Being a parent is a constant learning process
- Healthy doesn't have to mean expensive
- A family era ends with close of Potter series
- Independent stores make up for loss of Borders
-
- Mark Simonson
-
-
General Clinton Canoe Regatta got a new home in 1972
Ever since 1963, when Charles Hinkley and a group of Tri-Town businessmen came up with the idea for what we know today as the General Clinton Canoe Regatta, people lined the shores of the Susquehanna to watch the canoeists as they made their 70-mile trek from Cooperstown to Bainbridge.
Continued ... - Sunday movies in Oneonta finally shown in 1934
- Politics, fitness and landmarks dominated local news in May 1968
- Local people sought income in many ways in 1933
- Local windstorm in 1983 caused tense moments
-
- Rick Brockway
-
-
Kids have sparkle in their eyes
When I was in my teens, old Bill Naatz told me about a stream north of Lake George where a man had panned out enough gold to make his wife a wedding band. It was all rumors, but to his grandson and myself, it sounded like the makings of a great adventure.
- People make the outdoors even better
- Turkey season has ups and downs
- Spring air isn't always the freshest
- Adriondacks keep growing and growing
-
Kids have sparkle in their eyes
- Sam Pollak
- William Masters
-
-
Schreibman tops Chris Gibson on women's issues
As the time to vote draws near, we need to remember how money can run politics more than we can. Raising funds is a prominent (if not the dominant) task of getting elected. Raising issues is also crucial, but those efforts are subject to distortion and fear-mongering.
- Republicans feelentitled to allthey can garner An entitlement is a legal benefit available from the government to individuals who are within a defined category of recipients, such as needing insurance for unemployment or health services.
-
Romney focuses on self; Obama emphasizes unity
Mitt Romney criticizes President Obama for saying a person's success is rooted in his community, and is not all his alone. Romney belittles this with his belief in individual initiative. He is better at the put-down than the push-up.
-
Romney shows little regard for common man
The Republicans in Congress have voted over and over, 33 times, redundantly and uselessly, to rescind what they call Obamacare.
-
Scouts' gay ban creates problem where none exists
The Boy Scouts of America's "emphatic reaffirmation" of its vow to exclude any and all homosexuals from its hallowed ranks is ill-considered and pathetic, especially in view of its having reviewed the matter for two years.
-
Schreibman tops Chris Gibson on women's issues
