"Left, left, left-right, right-left!" The sergeant shouted orders as members of the 12th Cavalry Memorial Unit marched.

The unit, part of the Rio Grande City High School JROTC Rattler Battalion, will participate April 9 in the National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade in Washington, D.C.

Thirty cadets, four horses, one mule and a wagon will represent their school and community at the event. They also will spend more than two days exploring the monuments of the nation’s capitol. The group plans to arrive April 6 in Washington, D.C., have coffee with Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison the next morning, then visit the Vietnam War Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery, the White House and other sites.

"I look forward to visiting the Lincoln Memorial," said Cadet Sgt. Major Heriberto Garza, 18. "The Lincoln Memorial’s on the penny and the $5 bill. I feel pride for being selected to represent the community."

The school established the unit in 1998 as a replica of the U.S. Army’s 12th Cavalry, which served at Fort Ringgold from 1921 to 1941. That unit currently is stationed at Fort Hood. The high schoolers participate in the organization as a living history of the unit’s years along the border.

"The cadets wear the same hat, the saber, the tie that they used to wear back then," said Master Sgt. Marco Peña, Army instructor for the high school program.

Peña began thinking up new activities for the students last year.

"We had just finished the San Antonio parade, the Battle of Flowers," Peña recalled. "I said, ‘We need to take the kids to other parades,’ because the parades were becoming routine." The students also led the Parade of Oranges in Mission last year.

Peña was searching the Internet when he stumbled onto the cherry blossom parade.

"When I told Major Rutledge about it, he laughed and walked into his office," Peña recalled. "He came back five minutes later and said, ‘Are you serious?’ I said, ‘Yes, let’s take the kids on an educational trip.’"

Major David Rutledge, senior Army instructor, said he initially was hesitant to the idea of taking a group of high school students out of state. The group had not gone any farther than San Antonio, he said. However, after he thought about it, he became more receptive to the idea.

"It makes sense, because they’re going to a major event and we’re taking students to the seat of our national government," he said. "It’s a great opportunity to educate the kids about different activities and sites of the nation’s capital. Part of the program here is to study congressional law, the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence."

The school sent in its application to march in the parade, and the students felt honored to be chosen. Rutledge said he and Peña hope to get passes for the students to go into the Supreme Court and the Pentagon; he hopes to include as many sites as possible while they are in Washington.

For some students, it will be one of the greatest things they’ve ever experienced.