Today in our DC travels we visited, amongst other things, three very important memorials – the World War II Memorial, the Korean War Veterans Memorial, and the Vietnam Veteran Memorial. Each of these memorials are powerful in their own right. They carry a weighty responsibility – they stand to help us honor and remember those who have given of themselves to this country. They are places of solemn recognition of the cost of freedom.
I took many photos of the memorials today, but I will instead share some choice selections from Google Images before I share my one favorite photo taken in the memorials today.
World War II Memorial
Korean War Veteran Memorial
Vietnam Veteran Memorial
Here is the only photo of my own that I will share. It is of an unoccupied bench in the Korean War Veterans Memorial. I saw it there under the trees overlooking the reflection pool and I was hit by the potency of the memorial’s message of quiet reflection and somber reverence. When I looked at this bench I thought that every person who has the power to send our men and women into active combat – military leaders, legislators, presidents – should find their way to this bench and reflect long and hard on the cost. As it says at the Korean War Veterans Memorial – freedom is not free – we can never forget the cost.
Day one thousand four hundred and eighty-two of the new forty – obla di obla da