- Caleb Harvey- District 8- Post 161
- Justin Thompson- District 7- Post 25
- Ronald Hershey- District 1- Post 130
- Bryleigh Kelly- District 8- Post 161
- Kateri Sherman- District 2- Post 355
- Abigail Matos- District 5- Post 397
- Noah Reardon- District 1- Post 587
- Edward DeLoye- District 2- Post 355
- Nathaniel Combs- District 8- Post 161
- Taylor Lowe- District 9- Post 506
- Julia Neal- District 8- Post 161
- Riley Randolph- District 2- Post 217
- Griffin Combs- District 1- Post 297
- Tyler Dues- District 2- Post 345
- Sam Clouse- District 5- Post 354
- Suzanna Whipkey- District 11- Post 389
- Alison Reeves- District 7- Post 25
- Iris Weisstein- District 1- Post 28
The Ohio American Legion A&G trip is not like the typical 8th-grade trip most Ohio teens experience. We have a smaller group of students and focus on history, Americanism, and respect for the men and women who have given their lives for our freedom.
Day to day highlights of the trip:
3/3/2025 6:24am
Good Morning Legionnaires, Ladies and Gentlemen!!!!
We have departed for our 2025 Americanism and Government Trip to Gettysburg and Washington DC.
Chaperones this year are Department 1st Vice Commander Stan Oren and his wife Ruth, Department 1st Vice President Renee Kohl, District 14 1st Vice Commander John Life, Department Service Officer and VA&R Coordinator William Genochio, and Department Americanism and Children & Youth Coordinator Christie White.
Wish us luck on our trip, and stay tuned for all our adventures!!!!
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3/3/2025 9:47pm
Day 1 is a wrap!
Our Young Leaders visited Gettysburg, and then had dinner at Dobbin House.
We are all tucked in and getting rested up.
Want to know what we are doing tomorrow??? Stay tuned for Day 2’s adventures to find out!
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3/4/2025 8:52am
Good Morning Legionnaires, ladies and gentlemen!!!
Our Young Leaders are heading out for Day 2 of our adventures!
First stop- the U.S. Capitol!
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3/4/2025 11:25pm
Day 2 is a wrap!!!!! Man o man are we WHOOPED!!!!
The day started at the American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial. Then we ran over to the Longworth Building to meet with interns from Emilia Sykes office to give us a tour of the US Capitol. We presented Gerard from the Representative’s office a Certificate of Appreciation for his help in securing us a tour, as well as a very VERY special visit (but that’s a surprise for tomorrow). While at the Capitol, we met with Representative Max Miller, and he allowed our Young Leaders to have a Q&A session with him. He was also presented with a Certificate of Appreciation.
Since the President was giving his State of the Union Address at the Capitol today, our schedule changed a little bit due to higher security around the Capitol with his presence. So we visited the MLK Memorial and FDR Memorial before heading off to the National Cathedral.
After the National Cathedral, we headed to the National Archives. Before dinner, we made sure to see the Thomas Jefferson Memorial and made a quick stop at Iwo Jima to see it all lit up at night.
We finished with dinner at the Silver Diner.
Our very tired Young Leaders are safely tucked into bed and anxious for tomorrow’s adventures! Make sure to stay tuned for tomorrow….. YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS OUT ON THE OPPORTUNITIES OUR YOUNG LEADERS WILL EXPERIENCE!!!!!
Our “teachers” today were Julia, Edward, Noah, Griffin, and Taylor.
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3/5/2025 6:23am
Good Morning Legionnaires, Ladies and Gentlemen!!!!
Day 3 is an early one. We have places to go and people to see!
We have TWO VERY SPECIAL locations to visit this morning!!!
Any guesses?!
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3/5/2025 8:48am
Did anyone guess The White House????
Bright and early, our Young Leaders were given the opportunity for a tour!!!
Next step, Arlington National Cemetery! We go live for our Wreath Laying at 12:15pm!
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3/5/2025 11:27am
Our Wreath Security today is Iris Weisstein- District 1- Post 28 and Griffin Combs- District 1- Post 297.
45 minutes until our wreath laying!!!!
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3/5/2025 12:17pm
The 2025 American Legion, A&G Wreath Laying! You Young Leaders laying the wreath are Suzanna Whipkey- District 11- Post 389 and Nathaniel Combs- District 8- Post 161.
They are accompanied by Department 1st Vice Commander Stan Oren and Department 1st Vice President Renee Kohl. 🇺🇸❤️🤍💙
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3/5/2025 10:59pm
Day 3 is a wrap!!!!! Today was epic!!!!
We started out at THE WHITE HOUSE! After we left there, we stopped at the Air Force Memorial before going to Arlington National Cemetery.
Arlington was an unexpected experience. Our Young Leaders made The American Legion proud with how respectful and professional they acted. During the Wreath Laying (if you watched our Live), you will hear in the background a battery cannon salute as well as a fly over. There was a funeral for Lt. General Norman Smith, USMC. The Arlington staff said it is a once in a lifetime experience because only high ranking officers receive that honor, and there hasn’t been one at Arlington for years. After the Wreath Laying, we were invited by a Tomb Guard to go under the Tomb and visit the Guards Quarters!!!! The Tomb Guard that invited us was SSG Damion Frombach, which was the same Guard that helped our Young Leaders place The American Legion Wreath… which added a personal touch to being invited and having a Q&A session with him. We were also surprised by a visit from American Legion Executive Director James Baca.
We we says it rained…. It RAINED! But our Young Leaders did not complain once!
We stopped at the Pentagon City Mall for lunch and to dry out.
After lunch, we explored the Law Enforcement Museum and Memorial.
We made quick stops at the Navy Memorial, Washington Monument and the WWII Memorial before heading off for dinner at American Legion Post 177 in Fairfax. They provided our Young Leaders with a home cooked meal, and honored our POW/MIA’s with a Ceremony.
We were also surprised at Post 177 by a few American Legion Buckeye Boys State Counselors- Brian Le, Weston Lindner, Rich Ching, Dan Regan and Daniel Gaffney. Once you are part of the Legion Family, you will be surprised how much support and and networking is out there for you.
Today’s “teachers” were Caleb, Ronald, Justin, Tyler, Sam and Iris.
Make sure to stay tuned tomorrow…. We only have a few days of adventure left!
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3/6/2025 7:33am
Good Morning Legionnaires, Ladies and Gentlemen!!!!
It is Day 4 and we are out and about. Let’s see what adventures we get into today!
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3/6/2025 10:22pm
Day 4 is complete. Today was our last day in Washington DC.
Bright and early this morning, we visited the Pentagon Memorial before heading off to the Marine Corps Museum and had lunch at the Devil Dog Diner.
After lunch, we went to see George Washington’s house and resting place at Mt. Vernon followed up by a trip to the U.S. Army Museum, before heading back into Washington DC. We made sure to stop by the U.S. Flagpole, 3 Service Members Statue, Vietnam Wall, Vietnam Women’s Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Korean Memorial, and Eisenhower Memorial.
We had Dinner at The Hard Rock Cafe, and even sang a little karaoke! We wrapped up the night with a quick visit to the Kennedy Center.
Today’s “teachers” were Alison, Nathaniel, Abigail, Riley, Kateri, Suzanna, and Bryleigh.
Tomorrow, we will be heading home. It will be our last day of adventure. Stay tuned.
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3/7/2025 8:32am
For the final time…… Good Morning Legionnaires, Ladies and Gentlemen!
We are on the road and heading home! We are all excited to be home, but sad that our adventures have come to an end. We have one final stop at Flight 93.
Wish us luck for safe travels!
(We were too focused on spending the last morning together as a group, that we forgot to take a group photo. So enjoy our O-H-I-O with the Washington Monument. We will do better at lunchtime. ) 😬☺️
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3/7/2025 1:35pm
Our final stop on the trip was Flight 93. That is one sobering experience.
“A common field one day, a field of honor forever”.
Time to get our young leaders fed. Next stop, Ohio!!!
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3/7/2025 7:31pm
The 2025 Americanism and Government Trip is a wrap. Our Young Leaders have successfully been returned to their parents.
I cannot begin to explain how impressive these Young Leaders were. They were polite, respectful, caring, enthusiastic, intelligent, funny, and just overall amazing students. Based off of our time with them, we can confidently say the future is in great hands! You made your Post, District, Department, and Family proud!
“The most importing we can do is inspire young minds”
-John Glenn
Griffin, Edward, Sam, Tyler, Taylor, Riley, Julia, Alison, Iris, Abigail, Suzanna, Nathaniel, Bryleigh, Caleb, Kateri, Noah, Ronald and Justin…… I have no doubt you will inspire the younger generations for years to come. I know you have inspired us!
We are so incredibly proud of you!!!!!!
-Christie and the Chaperone Gang ❤️🤍💙