Fifteen scouts in Boy Scout Troop 389, chartered by Atlantic Christian School, went on a two-day tour of Washington, DC in mid-October and had the special honor of presenting a memorial wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington Cemetery.

The trip from October 22-23 was organized by Scoutmaster Mike Jorgenson and Assistant Scoutmaster Mike Capito, both ACS parents, who saw the tour as an opportunity for the scouts to fulfill many of the requirements to earn their Citizenship in the Nation badge. But the trip was about much more than earning a badge. “Everywhere we went, the scouts were seeing and learning about important events in our country’s history that they only knew about in an abstract way, and now it was becoming more real,” Capito said.

Jorgenson said the Troop is very grateful to the American Legion Post 469 in Longport for making a donation to help underwrite the cost of the trip and make it affordable for every scout.

Both Jorgenson and Capito said one highlight of the trip was participating in a wreath presentation ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington Cemetery. Four scouts — Blake Botbyl, Logan Campsmith, Hunter Jorgenson, and Cameron Riordan — participated in the ceremony in the afternoon of October 23, right after the hourly changing of the guard. The rest of the scouts also participated by standing in columns on the steps as the wreath was carried to the front of the Tomb. A ribbon on the wreath recognized Troop 389 and American Legion Post 469.

“All of us felt so honored to be part of this solemn and reverent ceremony,” Jorgenson said. “It’s hard to put into words the emotions we felt in that moment.” After the ceremony, the scouts visited the graves of two members of the military who were interred there who had a personal connection to scouts in the troop.

Another highlight of the trip was the scout’s tour of the National Archives, where they saw historic documents including the Bill of Rights, Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and the Magna Carta. “For many of us, this was the first time we were seeing these documents, which were so important to the founding of our country, in their original form and it was a really memorable experience,” Jorgenson said.

In addition to visiting Arlington Cemetery and the National Archives, the scouts’ itinerary included touring the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, and a number of national monuments, including the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam War Monument, and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Monument.

“Even though we did a lot of walking during the trip, everyone loved the experience and they all want to go back and do it again,” said Jorgenson, who had been planning since 2019 to take the Troop to DC, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic had to delay those plans.

Boy Scout Troop 389 and Cub Scout Pack 389 were established in 2004 and meet at ACS on Monday nights.  Cub Scouts is for boys from the 1st -5th grades and Boy Scouts is for boys from 6th grade until their 18th birthday.