Hoo-boy, what a long day.
Our first stop this morning was to see the White House. We walked to the north side, and took pictures by the fence, and walked over to see the statue of Stonewall Jackson in Lafayette Square. We saw some of the guards on the roof of the White House, which some were calling snipers. The truth is, whatever snipers were in place are never going to be visible!
Next on the agenda was the FDR Memorial. It's one of the more artistic ones, all completely open-air, with four outdoor "rooms" depicting each of his four terms of office, and quotations from FDR on the walls. I think the most memorable part was entering the third "room," depicting his third term, which was largely concerned with the years of World War II. So far in the memorial, you have seen large granite stones making up the walls, smooth and even, with his words engraved on them. As you enter this room, there is a jumble of broken stones of the same type to your left, and to your right a large fountain pouring through more broken and disarrayed stones. His quote about having seen what war does to people is on one wall, and the words "I HATE WAR" are on the sides of two of the broken stones in the jumble. It's a very effective symbol.
We then went to the Korean War Veterans Memorial, which is one of the newer ones on the Capitol Mall. There are 19 stainless steel statues of American Soldiers in a triangular arrangement; the looks on their faces are tense. One side of the triangle is a finely-polished stone wall, which reflects these figures, giving you 38 soldiers -- the number referring to both the 38 months of the war and the 38th Parallel, which still divides North and South Korea from each other. Along the reflecting pool at the point of the triangle, the wall continues, and in it is etched the phrase, "Freedom is not free." It's a fitting tribute to those who served in the Korean War.
Then across the Capitol Mall to the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial -- "The Wall." John and I had a special mission here. The son of a wonderful couple at our church died in Vietnam, and we wanted to find his name. With the help of a quick lookup on the Memorial's website, we got the location and found it rather quickly.
There were several gentlemen here and there along the Wall, looking slowly at all the names. One of them asked a question about how the names were organized, and he and I spoke for a moment. He had been drafted in the mid-60's, but never went to Vietnam. He had several friends' names on the wall, though.
I have to say that I was more affected by the monument than I expected. Perhaps it was knowing someone who lost their son in the war. Perhaps it was just being there, after having heard much about it over the years. It was very sobering.
After that came the most frustrating part of the day for me. We got back on our bus and went to the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum -- and had less than an hour and a half there! AAAAAUGH! I love aviation and space history! There were two Apollo capsules, one Mercury capsule, and a Gemini capsule. There was the original Wright Flyer, the Spirit of St. Louis, Spaceship One, Dick Rutan's Voyager, and a lunar lander constructed for the Apollo missions, but never used. There was a full-size Skylab mockup, and an exhibit of an engine from a Saturn V rocket. AND WE ONLY HAD 80 MINUTES!!!! I was tempted to just hide somewhere until the bus left, and just find a cab back to the hotel, but I figured that wasn't the most responsible thing to do!
Next came the most emotional part of the tour so far -- the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Words really fail me when I try to write something about this. The scale of the horrible events is staggering. The depictions are sometimes graphic, and the stories of peoples' lives so hard to hear. Just trying to get through all of the museum was hard, because of how much suffering is depicted. While some were saved from the concentration camps, and others escaped before being sent there, there are no happy endings for anyone even remotely involved. Truly, we need to be sure we never forget.
Somehow, after that, we managed to have dinner. Then, on to the Jefferson Memorial, followed by the Lincoln Memorial. Both were awesome to see, but I think I was really looking forward to the Lincoln Memorial more. We got there just after dark, and I think that's probably the best time to see it -- it's just beautiful!
We returned to the hotel after that, very tired, and ready to rest.
Tomorrow, among other things, we visit the U.S. Capitol Building, and attend a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.
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