Boys Nation Day 4: Honoring heroes

Adam Laubenthal and Wolfgang Schaefer each acknowledged later that they were a bit nervous as they waited Monday morning at the Tomb of the Unknowns.

The two American Legion Boys Nation senators were about to join National Commander Denise H. Rohan and National Chaplain Robert Vick in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb at Arlington National Cemetery, an annual Boys Nation tradition.

Outside the room where they waited, the silence was broken only by the calls of birds and the clicks of the shoes of the Old Guard, the soldiers from the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment who guard the Tomb.

“When the guards came in with the wreath, I was very nervous,” said Missouri’s Schaefer. “I was talking to Adam (later), and he was also very nervous. Hearts were racing. We really, really did not want to mess this up. We had an audience of not only our peers from Boys Nation, and our counselors, but we also had an audience of many, many tourists, and of course, the soldiers who actually guard the tomb. And for the most part, I think it went off without a hitch.”

The two senators, joined by one of the soldiers, placed the wreath before the Tomb.

“Honestly, I was really excited as well, because not a lot of people get that opportunity and I was blessed to get that opportunity,” said Iowa’s Laubenthal.

Prior to the wreath-laying ceremony came the changing of the guard. Schaefer said that ceremony set the tone.

“The dignity and the solemnity of the occasion and the ceremony were awe-inspiring, they were breathtaking. And witnessing the changing of the guard immediately beforehand, it set a mood and set a precedent for how I wanted to carry myself through the ceremony. I already had an idea of what needed to happen and how I needed to act, how I needed to be poised, but the changing of the guard set a mood. I think I lived up to that mood; I tried,” Schaefer said.

Laubenthal has visited Arlington before, but he said he was too young at the time to really grasp the scope of what the cemetery means.

“It meant a lot for me being at Arlington and being able to see just the magnitude of how much people have sacrificed for us. We talk a lot about sacrifice, and I think that Arlington Cemetery is a tangible example of how much people sacrificed for us,” Laubenthal said.

More from Monday

• The Boys Nation senators also visited the Marine Corps War Memorial on Monday morning before heading to Arlington.

• Much of the day was spent in party conventions, where the senators heard speeches from presidential and vice presidential candidates and worked to solidify their respective party platforms.

Quotable

“I have profound respect for our military and for all who serve in the armed forces. Today was a very physical and a very solemn reminder of the debt that we owe those men and women, and of how their sacrifices continue on today.” – Boys Nation Senator Wolfgang Schaefer of Missouri.

Follow the happenings at American Legion Boys Nation 2018 here on legion.org and on social media using the hashtag #BoysNation2018.