When a large contingent of older veterans and their caregivers showed up at the World War II Memorial on Tuesday, they were blocked from entering by metal barricades with signs warning that the park was closed because of the government shutdown. A few e-mails later, about a dozen members of Congress showed up, clipped the tape that was looped through the barricades and opened the gates. A round of applause erupted as the veterans — from World War II and Vietnam — walked and wheeled down a pathway to their state columns inside. “I was just praying to the Lord, and He took care of it,” said Cleveland Faggard, 89, of Moss Point, Miss. He served as an aviation machinist in the Navy during World War II. It was just wrong,” said Representative Steven Palazzo, Republican of Mississippi/Ashley Southall, New York Times. More here.

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