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Boys Nation visits Arlington National Cemetery, where one senator got a chance to visit his grandfather’s gravesite.

Oregon’s Stuart Young visited the grave of his grandfather at Arlington National Cemetery around a year ago with his family. But during American Legion Boys Nation’s annual trip to what has been called the nation’s most-hallowed ground hit a little different on Monday for the senator.

Young spent time alone at the gravesite of his grandfather, former U.S. Navy Commander and SEAL Norman Carl Houston Jr., who passed away in 2015 at age 66. There were some tears for Young, who said his grandfather inspired him while he was alive and continues to do so now.

“It’s so different being at his actual headstone and being on the ground where he was laid to rest to pay the proper respects,” Young said. “It’s so different because there’s no boundary. I feel much more emotionally connected, to be able to talk to him.”

When he was chosen to represent Oregon at Boys Nation, getting another chance to visit his grandfather crossed his mind. “I knew I was going to be able to see him alone, and talk to him by myself,” he said. “It was incredible having my family there (last year) for sure, but having my own moment with him where I am in my life, definitely was an exciting prospect. I knew it was going to be bittersweet. Knowing it was going to be a little sad, but also grateful for the opportunity.”

There also were visits by senators to the gravesite of former U.S. Army Capt. John David Hortman, who was only 30 when he died in a helicopter crash in 2011 at Georgia's Fort Benning during an exercise with Army Rangers. 

Hortman was a graduate of South Carolina’s Palmetto Boys State and later served on the staff there; the program stages a run each year prior to Boys State that honors Hortman and raises funds for scholarships.

Riley Harvell, Madison Section’s senior counselor, said every year someone from South Carolina will place a coin and the current pin from Palmetto Boys State on Hortman’s gravestone. “Coming here … brings it home,” he said. “Hopefully, that kind of helps it sink in. It does for me, anyway, seeing a name you recognize. And he was young. He was young.”

Michigan senator Gabriel Lencioni also had goal when he came to Arlington: to visit the gravesites of Travis Mannion and Brendan Looney, roommates at the U.S. Naval Academy who were later killed in action: Mannion while serving as a Marine in Iraq and Looney in Afghanistan while a Navy SEAL. The pair are buried side by side at Arlington; a book about them, “Brothers Forever”, was recommended to Lencioni by a Blue and Gold Officer from the Naval Academy.

“I figured since I was here at Boys Nation, it would be a good idea to come and visit them in person, rather than just read about them,” said Lencioni, who wants to attend either the Naval or Air Force Academy. “I think it’s very important. There are feelings that you can’t always place a word to. It’s important to find people that had the same aspirations to serve their country, and that they fearlessly gave their life to maintain the freedoms that we hold dear.”

A Wreath at the Tomb. It also was a special day for Connecticut senators Jacoby Fry and Shawn Carr, who were chosen to place a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier during a ceremony attended by all the senators and staff, as well as members of the general public. American Legion National Commander James LaCoursiere Jr. and National Chaplain Daniel DePozo accompanied the pair as they laid the wreath; the pair were chosen because LaCoursiere’s home post is in Connecticut.

The two found out they were placing the wreath on Sunday night. “In that moment, it almost feels surreal, almost like ‘They’re choosing me to do it?’” Carr said. “Today, when it happened, and you actually see the wreath and hold onto it, it is that feeling of honor. That I must do everything I can to be able to honor these soldiers who have no name. And they needed to be respected and cared before because  what they stand for is larger than their duty. They represent everybody who might not be identified, who might not have a name. It is a tremendous honor.”

Carr, in his first visit to the hallowed cemetery, said he experienced more than nerves right before the ceremony began, when one of tomb’s guards approached him and Fry with instructions. “I could see my fear reflected in his sunglasses,” he said. “That fear was there until he broke character and started talking.”

It was the same for Fry, who said there were nerves “definitely at the beginning, standing at the top of the steps as the guard approaches you. But then he breaks character and makes you feel comfortable, and it’s all business from there.”

The experience was something Carr will take with him long after Boys Nation comes to a close. “That’s not going to leave. That’s not something that could leave,” he said. “It is a position of utmost respect and utmost diligence to people who give their lives for us in this country. I will never forget that.”

For Fry, helping place the wreath “was really special. Something, obviously, a lot of people don’t get to do. I felt very privileged to be able to do it. Definitely lucky.”

An Opportunity to Educate. Later in the afternoon, Boys Nation President Pro Tempore Dominic Mimbang and Secretary Yamato Lerwill laid a wreath at the World War I Memorial while the other senators stood at full attention. Right after the ceremony was over, a bugler dressed in a World War I Army uniform played taps – something that occurs every day at 5 p.m. at the memorial.

Jari Villanueva, executive director of the Doughboy Foundation – which along with the World War I Centennial Commission – was instrumental in the building of the memorial – shared with the senators the journey of the memorial, how its design came about and also how the United States became involved in World War I.

Villanueva said visits like the one paid by Boys Nation are one of the reasons why the memorial was built. “Our mission with the Doughboy Foundation is to help educate the public about World War I,” he said. “Having groups like this is fantastic because it will hopefully entice these young folks to go the library, go to the Internet, open a book, find out more about World War I. Find out about Alvin York. Find out about the Harlem Hellfighters. Find out about the Hello Girls. Find out about Gen. Pershing. It will help them gain a much better understanding of our history. You tend to forget what happened then.”

The bugler was Matt Barker, who plays trumpet for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. “Although I did not serve, I am very, very lucky to have this opportunity … to play taps at the World War I Memorial,” Barker said.

Watch video of the ceremony .

Candidates Set. Both the Nationalist and Federalist parties nominated their candidates for Boys Nation president and vice president ahead of Tuesday’s elections.

The Nationalists chose Beauregard Chiasson of California as its presidential candidate and Nicholas Frazier of Alabama for vice president. The Federalists nominated Luke Lawson of Alabama and Kethan Neginhal of West Virginia for vice president. The elections will take place after a morning trip to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The senate also passed its first bill, SB-1. The legislation allows primary care providers to prescribe methadone for patients with opoiod use disorder.

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