By Wendy LaFever

History isn’t just a subject you have to pass to move up a grade. History is the collection of our most important moments, something we live in and build on every day. The teens who qualify to attend the Youth Education Summit in Washington, D.C. make history as they explore the nation’s capital and learn 
what it means to be an American citizen.

Once a year,  current high school sophomores and juniors from all over America wave good-bye to their families and converge on Washington, D.C., to start a week-long adventure in citizenship known as the National Youth Education Summit, or Y.E.S. This all-expense-paid summit, funded by The NRA Foundation, local donations and funds raised at Friends of NRA events, offers a once-in-a-lifetime chance to experience American history—past, present and future.

It is fitting that the first of Y.E.S.’ “Class of 2008” began to arrive on Monday, July 7, right after Independence Day, since so many of the lessons they were soon to learn were about the nature of freedom. As Laura Dindal and Nicole McMahon with NRA Field Operations greeted the incoming Y.E.S. attendees, everybody knew that this was going to be a wonderful week. There would be chances to learn about the NRA and the Second Amendment, public speaking opportunities, debates, tours of D.C.’s landmarks, adventures on the U.S. Marine Corps base in Quantico, Va., picnics and parades. As they arrived, the kids were sorted into groups for their upcoming debates by NRA Staff volunteers and Y.E.S. alumni chaperones. (The groups had names you might recognize like Kimber, Marlin, Savage and others.)

Tuesday morning saw the Y.E.S. bus—piloted by George, the world’s best bus driver—pulling into NRA Headquarters in Fairfax, Va. After breakfast at the NRA Café, everyone settled in for lectures on public speaking and NRA programs, including Women on Target and NRA 
University, given by NRA professionals. They also got to experience a tour of the
NRA’s National Firearms Museum, with its unparalleled collection of rare and notable guns. It was a lot of info to absorb, but nothing helps your memory like a little target practice…so everyone headed down to the NRA’s range for some fun. There, the Y.E.S. kids focused on making shot groups as tight as their debate arguments would be the next day.

Wednesday was all about scholarship—learning, independent thinking and the ability to challenge assumptions. After an enlightening seminar from Dr. David Bobb of Hillsdale College on “Revolutionary Rights: Why the American Founding Matters Today,” the various Y.E.S. debate groups squared off on a variety of topics. They only took a break from the discussions for a rare treat: a tour of the White House! After the special honor of the tour, they realized that they’d just witnessed a place where a thorough knowledge of American issues might take them someday. Even scholars need to eat, so a barbeque picnic dinner at a beautiful private residence hosted by Sandy Elkin, Grants Manager of NRA’s Office of the Treasurer, was just the thing before touring the Lincoln, Vietnam and Korean Memorials.

Y.E.S. toured the Supreme Court, where one of the most important events in Second Amendment history took place just a few days before the Y.E.S. bus pulled up.

How do you top a day like Wednesday? With a day like Thursday! The day brought an up-close-and-personal view of the inner workings of the U.S. government. First, they toured the Supreme Court—of particular interest in light of the recent D.C. v. Heller Supreme Court decision that held that the Second Amendment protects an individual Right to Keep and Bear Arms (see page 5 for more information—ed.). Having covered the judicial branch of our government, the Y.E.S. kids moved on to the legislative branch with a visit to the House gallery. Cool as that was, it was just a prelude to their meeting with Congressman Michael McCaul (R-Texas, pictured above) on the steps of the U.S. Capitol building. After he spoke with them about the challenges Congress faces, the group headed indoors for a guided tour of the Capitol building, courtesy of Congressman McCaul’s staff.

The scale and grandeur of the U.S. Capitol Building’s Rotunda has to be seen to be believed.

Even with all this, they’d only scratched the surface of all the cool stuff there is to see and do in the D.C. area, but they were ready to dig deeper. Soon the bus arrived at the Pentagon, which is the headquarters of the Department of Defense. It’s hard to envision just how huge the Pentagon is if you’ve never seen it. It has three times the floor space of the Empire State Building; 23,000 people work there every day; there are 16 parking lots with room for nearly 9,000 cars. Despite its size, it’s possible to walk from any one point in the building to any other in seven minutes or less…a theory that the Y.E.S. group put to the test in their guided tour.

The week may have been winding down, but the Y.E.S. adventure was still ramping up. Although it was very early Friday morning as Y.E.S. got on the road, nobody was sleepy: All eyes were shining with anticipation because it was time to go to the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) base in Quantico, Va. The bus pulled up to a rather unassuming building that houses the USMC’s night vision training obstacle course. Mike Fink, retired Marine and manager of the NITE Lab, prepared the group for what was to come. With an emphasis on safety, he described how the night vision goggles would work, what each obstacle would entail and how to avoid getting “shot” by “Carlos the international terrorist.” (Turns out “Carlos” is just a mannequin, and when he “shoots” it’s just a flashing light and the sound of machine-gun fire…whew!) In groups of four, the Y.E.S. kids were fitted into their night vision goggles and released into the coal-black maze of ladders, monkey bars and simulated jungle trails. One by one, they filed back out, flushed and grinning with adrenaline.

After a tasty lunch at the mess hall, it was time for more excitement courtesy of the USMC. Everyone trooped to the ISMT building, which is a firearms simulation facility. It’s set up like the world’s most serious arcade—millions of dollars’ worth of equipment allows shooters to train on M-16 rifles and 9mm pistols just like the Marines use. The difference is that the guns’ actions have been replaced with an air compressor that realistically simulates recoil, and that lasers track shot placement. No actual ammunition is involved, so there’s no need for eye or ear protection and shooters can shoot to their heart’s content…no policing up brass required. “I could do this all day,” grinned Benjamin Catterson, one of the Y.E.S. attendees, as his teammates encouraged each other and demonstrated proper pistol grip and stance to others who weren’t familiar with handguns. Ooh-rah!

Y.E.S.’ next visit was to the National Museum of the Marine Corps, a soaring structure of steel and glass that dominates the view from I-95, chock-full of interactive exhibits and displays commemorating the history and heroism of the Marine Corps. (For more information, visit www.usmcmuseum.org.) As the heat of the July day faded, Y.E.S. paid a visit to the majestic Iwo Jima memorial and then settled in for the truly awe-inspiring “8th and I Parade.” The parade, held at the D.C. USMC Barracks, is a dazzling display of rifle drills and includes performances by the U.S. Marine Band and the U.S. Marine Drum and Bugle Corps.

Arlington National Cemetery’s Tomb of the Unknowns is a place of solemn beauty.

Friday’s lessons were all about fun, but the history of citizen service in the military is also a solemn tradition. Saturday brought those reminders to the fore as Y.E.S. filed quietly into Arlington National Cemetery to honor America’s fallen. Nestled peacefully in the rolling hills of the massive cemetery is the Tomb of the Unknowns, where the mortal remains of unidentified American soldiers from several wars are laid to rest. It’s guarded 24 hours a day, 365 days a year by The Old Guard, who are specially trained members of the 3rd United States Infantry. There, after some moments of quiet reflection, four exceptional members of the Y.E.S. group participated in a wreath-laying ceremony together with two guards. A trumpeter played “Taps” as the group performed this special honor.

The World War II memorial wasn’t built until 2004, and the average WWII vet is now over 79 years old. The Honor Flight Network (www.honorflight.org) is a donation-based charity that helps veterans visit their memorial by providing free flights, tour bus service, t-shirts, scooters, wheelchairs, oxygen and meals for the vets.

Still reflecting soberly on what they had just seen, the Y.E.S. bus was quiet as it made its way to the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. There, they were extremely lucky to meet up with a group of World War II veterans who were visiting their memorial. These gracious gentlemen agreed to sit down with Y.E.S. for about half an hour, to answer the kids’ questions about what it had been like to serve in the Second World War.

That evening, everyone gathered for the dinner and awards ceremony. The NRA staff was honored to award scholarships to outstanding Y.E.S. participants, with $10,000 in scholarships divided among eight young people. An additional $20,000 Grand Scholarship is still up for grabs, to be awarded to the attendee who is best able to apply the principles he or she learned to community service projects in his or her own hometown.

As the group reflected on all that they’d seen, done and learned, and prepared to go their separate ways, one could see that these young people are primed and ready to make their own marks on history.

Scholarship Winners

$2,500 Joseph Riley - Etowah, Tenn. $2,000 Tabitha Zant - Hext, Texas $1,500 Marquee Lucas - Soldotna, Alaska $1,000 Joshua Mathews - Milaca, Minn. Virginia “Ginger” Macfarlan - Siloam Springs, Ark. Jason Brown - Pittsburgh, Pa. $500Halie Fewkes - Kalama, Wash. Kirk Vaughan - Tampa, Fla.