D.C. Project

I was sitting in my kitchen last night, just kind of goofing off and relaxing after the week, when Dania started chatting with me. She mentioned the fact that she still hadn't gotten over Dona Nobis Pacem, and I said I felt the same way after the band completed the DC Project. That got me thinking, reminiscing, and laughing about that experience. For those of you who aren't familiar with the DC Project, it was an undertaking of the Timpview High School Band. Dr. David Fullmer, the director of the Timpview Band, received an invitation for the band to participate in the National Cherry Blossom Parade in April of 2008. Previously, the Timpview Band had helped to commemorate the 60th anniversaries of both Pearl Harbor and D-Day. As part of those trips, Dr. Fullmer had every participating member of the band go through a rigorous process to prepare them and help them understand more about what those events meant in the history of the world. Upon receiving the invitation for the Cherry Blossom Parade, he decided it was time for the Timpview Band to do another similar project.

Those that went on the trip met twice a month from September through December at six in the morning, once for a music rehearsal and once for a lecture about various wars. That bumped up to every week from January until we left. Additionally, we had pass-offs for memorization of music and historical documents, and occasionally an extra rehearsal on Saturday mornings. Homework for the project was a significant length research paper on a topic of our choosing and watching several movies depicting the various wars. For eight months, we devoted a large portion of our time and energy into this project. It culminated with a week spent in Washington D.C., which I can honestly say was one of the best weeks of my life.

We had performances at the Air Force Memorial, the World War II Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, and Gettysburg. Each one was special. Because of the time spent learning all the information we did, the entire project meant a whole lot more. It is my most treasured memory of high school. The tenderest moment on the trip was I was walking along the Vietnam Memorial wall, and I happened upon a letter wrote by one Natalie Cooper. She was writing on behalf of her father, Gary. I wish I had remembered the name of the fallen soldier she addressed the letter to. I do, however, remember reading the words "He doesn't know I'm writing this." This young girl, who seemed to be no more than 14, knew what a sacrifice her father and his fellow soldiers made. She understood and wanted to express appreciation. She had the capacity to see how much it meant for her father, and expressed her love of her father in that note. That moment, beyond anything else I experienced on the trip (and believe me, there was a lot), made it all worthwhile. It remains one of the more profound experiences of my life to this day.

There are a multitude of other experiences I could share. It was quite simply one of the best weeks of my life, and a lot happened during it. It had such an effect on me that when I received an invitation to attend the National Youth Leadership Forum on National Security: Exploring American Defense, Diplomacy, and Intelligence, I jumped at the opportunity to return to D.C. I was not going to pass up the chance to go back and visit those places again and relive the moments. I am extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to participate in that, and grateful that I had a director who did his best to help us young, stupid teenagers discover what it was really all about.