The Forgotten War

Korea, the forgotten war. The design of the memorial depicts this theme. It is a haunting sight to see the memorial during the day time, however to experience the memorial you have to become a part of the memorial at night. There are no names on the memorial, just faces. As I stood looking at the wall of faces I felt as thought I was drifting into the wall myself. So many times in dreams I know that I have been here before, surrounded in the dark by faces without names. It was very difficult for me to walk through the memorial. The figures in the grass appeared ghostly and the faces were coming out of the wall for me. I found myself fighting my fear by taking pictures of the faces hoping that the camera will help them find their names.
Most of us have memories of the Korean War from a television series named MASH. The show was a comedy show with an underlying theme of how devastating the war was. The one episode that I will always remember was when the rules of war were revealed. Rule one, people die in war; rule two, rule one cannot be changed.
Death in war happens in two ways, physical and mental. Physical death leaves family and friends empty and missing someone that they love. Mental death leaves the person empty and missing the person that they were. Which one is worse? That is a question that cannot be answered by anyone except the person who has died.
Please click on the photo of the words "Freedom is not Free" to view my photos. Remember to back page to return to my blog.

Memorials to Predsidents

I think this being Veteran's Day is a fitting day for me to write about the Memorials to certain Presidents in DC. I visited the memorials to FDR, Lincoln, and Washington. The Washington Monument stands tall right in the middle of the Mall. It is the marker that everything else on the Mall lines up with. It is the beginning and the core of our history and it stands so very proudly as the base of our freedom. If you stand on the steps to the Lincoln Memorial and look back at the Washington Monument you will see the reflection of the Monument in the water of the Reflection Pool. It does not matter where you stand on the steps, the reflection is there. The many steps that ascend to the Lincoln Memorial represent the steps that were taken to ensure that the words of the Constitution were guaranteed to all. Lincoln served during a horrible period in our history and his leadership kept us on the right path with the words of our founding fathers. His great words are etched in the marble that surrounds his stoic and awe inspiring statue. The Memorial to FDR does not follow the line between Washington and Lincoln. It sits off to the side midway down the reflection pool. It represents a dark side to our American history. It represents a time when America had to find itself from deep within and rebuild itself with hardships and sacrafices. With the leadership of FDR the country was reborn, stronger and able to work together for a common good. FDR inspired individuals to work and great works were accomplished during this time. FDR lead a nation to believe in itself and give to the common good without crossing the thin line into a socialistic philosophy.
All three of these men presided over our county during difficult times. They all demonstrated the same quality of leardership, the ability to insire people to accomplish great things and the courage to stand strong until the job was done. I look at my sons generation and I am troubled by the amount of individuals that honestly believe that they do not need to work or struggle in order to have a better life. They believe that they are entitled to the best that there is to offer without the labor to achieve it. I wish that I could impress upon this generation that the best that there is in life is that which I worked the hardest to achieve. My son's generation is lacking the self dicipline to move forward and I am concerned.
Please click on the photo of the Lincoln Memorial to view the slide show. Remember to back page to return to my blog.

World War II Memorial

Barbara's niece told us that we needed to see the memorials at night. So we took the Grayline night tour and the driver/tour guide had lived in DC for 30 years and had been doing the tour for over 20 years. He knew the history of DC extremely well and brought it all to life for all of us on the bus. His story about the World War II Memorial created an epifemy for what I had seen during the day to make sense. The Memorial has all of the States and Countries that were our Allies. The Memorial is set into the two war theaters that we fought in. The Stars in the waterfall represent the falled during the war. And finally the enscriptions are for all of the survivors of the war. And that is what makes this Memorial so very different. It recognizes all of those who were not in the military that suffered and worked to help defeat the enemy. The Memorial has an entire section devoted to the women who worked in the factories, built the airplanes, sewed the uniforms, and traveled with the USO. The Memorial is for a country that pulled together to fight a common enemy. This is the last time that this amount of Patriotism and loyalty has been shown by our Nation. In the battles that have followed World War II, our Nation has been divided. Tears came to my eyes as I realized how I thought that when I went into the Army that my belief, grounded in the World War II era, would be crushed by the theocrats that are dividing our Nation. This Memorial cleared my head and now I understand a lot of the mixed feelings that have been tormenting me for the past 30 years. I was raised in a small town that taught morals and patriotism. The drug and hippy cultures of the larger cities changed our country and removed morals and patriotism from the curriculum. I believe that as a Nation, we will stumble and could fail if we do not return to the beliefs of our past heritage.
Please click on the photo of the Memorial to view the slide show and then back page to return to my blog.

DC Buildings and Statues

It has taken me a couple of days to really figure out how to use all of the programs to do my posts, but I think I have it down now. This post is about all of the buildings and statues that I saw in the limited area I was in in DC. All of the construction appears to be the same, however there was something different about each of them. I was really taken back by the size of the Office building next to the White house. Then there was a row of buildings that began with the Red Cross and continued down the street ending with the FDIC building. I photographed the first in a series of buildings that begins all of the Smithsonian Museums. But that is for the next trip to DC. I photographed the Capital Building but that will also have to be seen up close and personal during my next trip. I was totally amazed at the number of statues that there are in and around DC. There are statues to military heros, legislatures of note, and discoverers. One thing stood out with all of the statues though. The women were all displayed naked! The statues in Union Station were all of men, naked, until someone thought that they should be covered and shields were placed in front of them. Wow! Gender bias even in our nations statues! Remember, click on the Capital Building photo to watch the slide show and then back page to return to my blog.

The White House

We stayed at the Capitol Hilton while in DC. I got a really good price through a computer discount site. The hotel was really nice, we had a suite with the most comfortable bed that I have ever slept on, and we were three blocks from the front door of the White House! So on our first day we explored a little bit of the surrounding area, finding fast food and coffee shops, and took in the sites around the White House. The first thing that I found really spooky was the statue in the park in front of the White House. It was Stonewall Jackson. Now anyone else would say, OK, but my friend Sharon that I also breed dogs with is his great-great-grand daughter! This sent chills down my spine! I was amazed at the amount of security around the White House. There were police on top of buildings, all around us where we walked, standing guard with dogs, and stationed in a lot of different places all over the place. In fact, I began to think that the only people that were in DC were police, aides, minimum wage earners and homeless people! And the tourists kept getting in their way!!

Please enjoy the pictures that I took around the White House. It is a slide show and each picture is set for 10 seconds so you can get a good look and critique my photography skills!

Please click on the photo of the White House to enjoy the show and then back page to return to my blog.

Trip to Washington DC

Last month I went to visit my friend Barbara who lives in Maryland, about 20 miles from Washington DC in a small town named Burtonsville. I knew that while I visited with her I could count on her help to see the war memorials up close and in person. I needed to do this to help me heal from my experiences while in the military during the VietNam conflict. Barbara said she would help me and support me with this challenge and she stood by her promise and we spent three days in DC. So I will be posting a different part of the trip beginning today and continuing as I put it together with my thoughts and emotions.