Thanks For All You Do

Going into Memorial Weekend, I just want to say Thank You to our brave men and woman  ( past and present) who have served this country so that we may gather for reunions and picnics and family dinners.  Thank you to my nephew Adam in Afghanistan right now. 

On our recent trip to Washington D.C. I saw many monuments and memorials that all expressed the same thing.  That was this country's gratitude to those who served.

                                                     Part of the Korean War Memorial

                                Isn't that so true in every war we have been in?  ( accept the Civil War ) This Memorial is probably the most haunting to me.  It was a grey misty day when we were there so the statues of the soldiers in their rain gear seemed so appropriate.

I saw quite a few World War II veterans being pushed in wheelchairs that I really wanted to photograph.  They were the stories.  Each one having his own experience that you could see in their faces as they moved around this memorial.  I wanted too but I didn't because I thought it would be an intrusion.  When I see a photo like that I usually think "what a great shot" but I can't do it.

 Vietnam - The Wall    I've lost count of the number of times I've stood  in front of this memorial. 

It never fails to move me.

My war........Sadly, my daughters have one too.   When we first started going to D.C. to see The Wall, the names and how to find them were in a notebook sitting on a stand at the entry to the Memorial area.   Now there are park rangers with some handheld electronic,  looking that up for you.

                                     A fragment of the Twin Towers now at the Smithsonian.

There will be another Memorial built.  I hope I'm still here to see it.  The WW II was a long time getting there for "the greatest generation".  

So my flags are flying and I will toast a glass of wine to all our enlisted and vets but I think Adam would rather it be a beer!