World War II Memorial

Back to Thursday. The WWII Memorial was the most impressive. It sits between the Washington and Lincoln Memorials, but is unobtrusive because of an elliptical shape, sunken in the middle with a large pool with facing fountains. At either end, there is a tower representing a theater of war (Atlantic in this picture ==>). Each of the campaigns is engraved in stone around a smaller fountain at the base of each tower. Here I am standing at the base of the Pacific tower, with a quote from Gen. MacArthur behind, and some of the later campaigns (Iwo) below to my left (<==). Flanking each tower are several (54 or 56) smaller towers, each with a metal garland, and engraved with the name of a State or Territory. Here is Utah's share of the monument. In the middle of the monument, as you face the Lincoln Memorial, there was a semi-circular granite wall with lots of gold stars mounted on it. Each star represented 5,000 U.S. Soldiers who lost their lives in that war. At the foot of the fountain below, the large engraving reads "MARK THE PRICE OF FREEDOM"On both sides of the stars were more waterfalls. Here is a shot, looking away from the Washington Monument, that gives you a better overall view.

Here are the views on the left of this picture, and on the right. Can you tell we were impressed? From this Memorial, Devin led us toward the tidal basin to see the cherry blossoms, and walk through the FDR Memorial en route to the Jefferson Memorial. Before we could get across the street, though, I was overwhelmed with emotion, and sobbed as I had received a small glimpse and reminder of the tremendous individual sacrifices made by those in military service. The personal losses, like the cumulative good they have done and are still doing for America in particular and the whole earth, cannot be exaggerated.

Great time with Devin and Melanie

Our time with Devin and Melanie was Capitol! We will only do a few highlights, but it will take several blogs, partly because the pics are coming in one installment at a time since we are so rusty at blogging. On Thursday morning, we did a walking tour of the monuments, starting at Iwo Jima, right outside Devin and Melanie's apartment. Here's Devin, "flats" & Iwo =>(Melanie was working that morning)

The monument itself is huge! Check it out. <=

From there, we hiked a loop past the Netherlands Carillion, past Teddy Roosevelt Island, and on to Memorial Bridge. Here is a shot on that leg.We next went to the Vietnam Memorial after crossing the Potomac. The names etched in granite were sobering. Here are Devin and Joanna (reflected in the stone).

We then doubled back to the Lincoln Memorial. It was wonderful having Devin as a guide. He knew quite a bit about the monuments that made it more interesting and meaningful, like why Lincoln is sitting down.

We walked down to the Korean War Memorial. At this point, our (brand new) camera came down with a case of "lazy eye" (the lens didn't open all the way). So on our next posting we will catch you up on the other happenings, captured on Joanna's and Devin and Melanie's cameras.

We saw the inspiring World War II Memorial, then circled around the Tidal Basin, roamed the sprawling Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial, and ended with the majestic Thomas Jefferson Memorial. And that was just the first part of the day! From there, we went to Alexandria where Melanie picked us up for the short trip and fabulous experience at Mount Vernon.

It is impossible to boil this experience down to one or two highlights, even daily ones. Our perspective was elevated, our respect and admiration was deepened for the founders and preservers of this nation and our shared ideals and freedoms, our faith in God and the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ was confirmed, and the bonds of our love and affection for Devin and Melanie were strengthened, along with the bright prospect of a new grandchild. It is hard to imagine a better family situation than the one Devin and Melanie are creating.