Marg was still
feeling sore (her knee), so I went into DC to have a look, in the general
direction of the Lincoln Memorial and the various war memorials.
Took the Metro into
the Smithsonian Metro Station and got out to find mobs of people on the Mall. I had
landed among the attendees at a super enormous book fair. As I walked along the
Mall towards the Lincoln Memorial, I passed giant tents set up to house the
book sales and a few authors, roped in to do some signing. Large shipping
container sized, but portable airconditioning units were set up outside the
tents to provide patrons with the comfort they deserved and an array of goodies
was on offer.
Ignoring all this
and the ubiquitous anklebiters, who seemed solely intent on getting in my way,
I walked past the Washington
Monument which would
normally have a crowd of thrill seekers in orderly queues around it, waiting
their turn to be elevated 500 odd feet to the viewing platform. As a result of
the earthquake on 23 Aug, the Monument has been temporarily closed, till
structural inspections have been assessed.
On to the WW 2
Memorial -
- where I came
across a large group of veterans from Oregon.
In response to some subtle questioning I found that they were the Honour Flight
of East Oregon. They had travelled across
the country to see this truly magnificent Memorial to the millions of Americans
who became involved in WW2.
On previous trips
here I would have then continued on my way towards the Lincoln Memorial via the
Pool of Reflection, which I had always thought was nothing more than a cess pit
ands surely an embarrassment to anyone proud of their nation’s history. It was poorly drained, with the resultant slime,
had garbage strewn and uncollected along its length and was generally
unkempt. Now however all that is gone.
The Pool has been
dug up. The information board tells what
is happening:
Onto
the Korean Memorial, where I had a one on one tour guide from the US Parks
Service – no one else wanted to hear his presentation ! He told me that the original plans for the
sculpting had included a group of 38 soldiers, but that the final allocation of
land for the Memorial was smaller than the original plans dictated and the
final number of sculpted soldiers had to be halved. The number 38 has significance when you
remember the 38th Parallel.
Off
then to the Vietnam Memorial where I checked the listings for any McRoberts and
came across a Clifford Wayne McRoberts born in 1940 and killed on 7 Feb 66. He served with the 101st Airborne Div and was listed as being on panel
5 West, so I was able to get this pic:
The
volunteer guide here pointed out that each row on the panels originally
contained five names. However as
veterans continue to die of war caused injuries and are eligible to have their
names included on the panels, they have been fitted in where the space at the
end of each line will allow. The names
on the memorial are in date of killed order, and these new names are etched in
as near as possible to the line consistent with their date of fatal
injury. The wall also includes the names
of the missing and there is a small cross icon to the right of their names, to
differentiate them from the KIA. If
their remains are located at some time, this cross is etched out to a small
diamond, and is then near enough consistent with the icon used as a divider
between the names of the KIA.
Now
to the Lincoln
Memorial. This is a true masterpiece and
dedicated to the memory of the President who prevented the destruction of the Union. To my mind
there has been no greater test of an American President and Abraham Lincoln,
though sorely tested in every way, maintained his determination and succeeded.
I
met an Englishman here – I should have known he was a Pom as he was wearing
shorts with sandals and grey socks. I
had just sat down against a pillar outside of the Memorial and was admiring
this view (note the Abe Lincoln look a likes)–
- when
this chap sat down on the other side of the pillar and we got to talking. He said he almost became a 10 Pound tourist
when his parents decided to emigrate to Australia in the late 50s but,
after selling everything they had and almost at the stage where they were
boarding the boat, his mother got cold feet and they cancelled their plans ! I think he may have regretted that parental
decision as he told me that England
is no longer the place he knew. Everything
changes, but I know that the English have suffered under some disastrous
policies in the recent past and they do not have a shining future.
I
made that the last encounter for the day and headed home.
