A year ago, I spent four days and three nights in Washington, D.C., with my son’s eighth-grade class.

I’m not sure about the kids, but it was an exciting time for me since I hadn’t visit our nation’s capital in more than 35 years.

It hasn’t changed much since my first visit with the exception of men guarding key buildings with weapons and the checkpoints e

veryone has to pass through before be allowing in almost any building.

We hit all the high spots during this most recent visit including the Lincoln and Washington memorials, the Capitol, the White House, Arlington National Cemetery, Ford’s Theatre, the Holocaust Museum, the Library of Congress, the Supreme Court, the National Archives and Union Station.

When we were on our way home at asked my son what he liked most about Washington and he gave me an answer I didn’t really expect. In fact, I was so surprised by it that I later asked some of his classmates if they agreed and they did.While they all told me they enjoyed seeing all the old building and monuments, the thing they remember most about the visit was an 80-something World War II veteran who stopped to talk to them just outside the Washington Monument about his war experiences.

This guy was no Audie Murphy, but he talked about the time he spent during the war serving on a Navy tender, a ship that supplies and services other ships. The man had pictures of his ship and spent a good 20 minutes or more talking about the war and why he gave up his Sunday afternoons to come the National Mall and talk to anyone willing to listen.

What had been a pretty rowdy bunch of kids set listening quietly and even asked a lot of good questions.I can’t even remember his name now, but ask some of the kids and they can tell you. That’s just how much of an impression he made on them. What a priceless gift that man gave to those kids.

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