DC TRIP

Saturday, Oct. 30th we (along with the retiring missionary couple, the DeLaneys) took a hired bus full of soldiers to Washington, DC. It was a “religious retreat”, so the army couldn’t deny them access to this trip. The DeLaney’s were still in charge, so we were along for the ride, finding out how to do this kind of thing. It happens 4 times per year, so the next one will be in February. There were 27 service members, 3 spouses, and 5 children of service members. Fourteen soldiers were not LDS, but friends and “battle buddies” invited by the member soldiers.


We took them to the DC temple. Some with recommends went inside to do some initiatories, or just enjoy the spirit in the temple. Others went to the visitors center and had guided tours and films. They were all very respectful and some were curious.

Next we took them to the tomb of the Unknown Soldier to watch the changing of the guard. Then the "mall" (no stores, it’s where the monuments and museums are). We were supposed to pick them up at the Capitol Building in 2 ½ hours. But there was a huge problem with that plan. Demonstrations were being held around the Capitol so we were unable to even get close to it. Police cars blocked off all the streets we needed to cross to get there. We drove that bus around for 1 ½ hours trying to get near, and also find a place to park till time to pick them up. There were so many millions of people walking and demonstrating that multiple streets were blocked off by police and it was really crazy. The poor bus driver was pretty stressed when we finally got to park for about 45 minutes.

The soldiers were warned to be careful because of the demonstrations. They were all wearing their BDU (Battle Dress Uniform, or camouflage), so they were easy to recognize. People might want to take pictures of them, so they had to make sure someone wasn’t holding a sign or something in the background, so that they didn’t end up on the national news. We didn’t hear of any trouble though. They were able to see the monuments and go through a museum or two.

I’ve never seen so many people in one place. There were two demonstrations being held. #1: “Return to Sanity” and #2: “Keep the Fear” I don’t even know what those things mean, and those people didn’t either because all of the signs we saw had really random and nonsense things on them. The best ones said things like, “I am carrying a sign!” There were many wearing costumes, all different. You’d have thought it was just a Halloween demonstration.

So we had to call all of the soldiers and it took two hours to catch all of them, since they didn’t all have their phones on, and they weren’t all in one group. The meeting place was changed and we were able to pick them up at the new place successfully. It was a challenge because the bus was not allowed to stop in any one place around the monuments for more than 15 minutes or he would have received a huge fine of $1000. They were at the new appointed place and quickly boarded the bus, without one soldier lost.

Next we drove out of the city and away from the traffic. About 6:30 we stopped at Golden Corral for dinner. The church paid for lunch and dinner. We all ate well, and the soldiers were happy to fill their plates numerous times. The manager made an announcement about appreciating our soldiers, and that pleased them. They perked up, smiled and shouted their army “oooOOOh!” (I don't know how to spell it.)

It was a long, stressful, but successful day.