Washington DC

March 20-26th

 

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Vietnam Memorial

This memorial is just as impacting as everyone says. When I first saw last night from a distance, I immediately started tearing up. It's hard to explain, because from a distance, it's relatively unassuming. Just a wall of black granite, cut into the earth in a V shape, tallest in the middle, tapering down at each end. But something about it just hit me as...powerfully moving...sad and solemn. Then, as Jimmy and I walked closer to the Wall, the more overwhelmed I felt. The number of names seemed overwhelming yet the wall itself certainly unified all of those individuals into a whole.

View from afar - I still cannot explain how, from this view, the Wall had such an effect on me. Jimmy and I saw it first at night, so perhaps it was the glowing light shining up on the black granite, or the eeriness of the surrounding leafless trees, or the scar in the earth or just the knowledge of the emotions that have been felt in this spot since this memorial was dedicated in 1982.

Almost 60,000 names line these walls.

A reflection of the Washington Monument

A reflection of the American Flag

Memorial Wreath

etching the name of a loved one

Arthur C. Retzlaff

Arthur C Retzlaff, died July 10, 1967

While searching the internet, I found this amazing narrative written by an 8th grader recalling her visit to the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial.

 

http://www.tourofdc.org/monuments/VVM/

 

The Vietnam Women's Memorial

A small memorial to the women who served our country in Vietnam. A very nice, moving tribute. Additionally, 8 service women are listed as killed during combat and their names are on the Wall.

Depicting 3 uniformed women with a wounded soldier - one comforts him, one kneels in thought or prayer, another looks to the sky for a medevac helicopter.

"It was in Vietnam that I discovered the fragility of human life. Our tenuous physical existence continues to hold me in awe." - Elaine Niggemann, Nurse.

http://www.vietnamwomensmemorial.org/intro.html

 

http://www.tourofdc.org/monuments/jefferson-memorial/

Levity in the midst of reflection

 

 

The Lincoln Memorial

Everyone told me that this is a huge memorial. But it's so hard to envision how large is really is - sure, you can see all the small people and get an idea of how big Lincoln is, but seeing it in person - just amazing. It's as if you can feel Lincoln's greatness because of the size of the monument. A great man who condemned slavery and issued the Emancipation Proclamation to free slaves in 1863 was met with fierce defiance by many in the South, but won the Congressional approval in 1865 and the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery was approved. This is a grand memorial. Also, standing on the steps, looking out towards the rest of the National Mall...a wonderful time to reflect and realize that our nation, though not without faults, is a great nation, thanks to great leaders as the one memorialized here.

View of the Lincoln Memorial from the WWII Memorial.

The 36 columns represent the states in the union at the time of Lincoln's death. Names of the 48 states in the Union when the memorial was completed in 1922 are carved in the exterior attic walls.

The 19 x 19 foot statue symbolizes Abraham Lincoln's strength.

Gettysburg Address

This is the spot that Martin Luther King Jr. stood when he gave his "I Have A Dream" speech - on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963.

This this the view that Martin Luther King Jr. had while he gave his speech to a crowd of  250,000.

http://www.tourofdc.org/monuments/lincoln-memorial/

 

Korean War Veterans Memorial

Sad to say and hard to admit, unlike the previous 2 memorials, I had little reaction to this memorial and I'm certain that it's because I am completely unknowledgeable about it. Perhaps because it's the "Forgotten War"? Is it considered the Forgotten War because not only was it half a world way, but also because it wasn't televised like all the other wars to come? The good thing about this memorial is that it gave me reason to learn a little more about the war, and with the wealth of the internet, it's unlimited how much I could learn about it. I may not spend hours researching, but I have spent a fair amount of time reading on it now, which is better than what I started with.

These statues depict American ground troops on patrol in Korea.

The black granite wall intermingles the etched faces and the statues mirrored on its polished walls.

These etched faces are based on actual photographs of unidentified American soldiers.

"Freedom Is Not Free." These four words on the wall of the Korean War Veterans Memorial reflect the sentiments of men and women who served in the Korean War-as well as those who fought and sacrificed to preserve democracy throughout our Nation's history.

-Washington DC Nat'l Park Service

http://www.tourofdc.org/monuments/KoreanWarMemorial/

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