As part of the Honor Flight project, World War II veterans have been taken to Washington DC, cost free, to see the memorial erected in their honor on the National Mall.

Due to the government shutdown, National Park Service police put up barriers preventing access. According to Leo Shane III, White House and Veterans Affairs reporter for Stars and Stripes, the veterans knocked over those barriers.

Tons of applause as the WWII vets from Miss. storm their memorial. Park police on the way. #shutdown pic.twitter.com/31UGU7MRry — Leo Shane III (@LeoShane) October 1, 2013

No sign of folks leaving. The vets have control of the memorial. #shutdown pic.twitter.com/eGj4kmFEiP — Leo Shane III (@LeoShane) October 1, 2013

This is where the Mississippi WWII vets wanted to get — their tower. #shutdown pic.twitter.com/VeKMGHURKr — Leo Shane III (@LeoShane) October 1, 2013

The scene at the WWII memorial right now. #shutdown https://t.co/2ragZgVXLi — Leo Shane III (@LeoShane) October 1, 2013

This ought to be interesting.

@LeoShane These brave men stormed the beaches at Normandy, they better damn well let them storm the memorial they paid for in BLOOD ! — Trish (@VonBehrens) October 1, 2013

Editor’s note: This post has been updated with additional tweets.

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Update:

Rep. Steven Palazzio, R-Miss., just retweeted this:

Based on picture I'm seeing it looks like @CongPalazzo just led the WWII Honor Flight vets through the #shutdown barricade at their monument — Frank Corder (@frankcorder) October 1, 2013

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Update:

Rep. Palazzo says the Obama administration knew about the veterans’ request and rejected it.