365: The Reboot: Washington DC - Monuments & Memorials

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Washington DC - Monuments & Memorials

By Christina 12:54 PM

Washington, DC is a city of monuments and memorials. They honor the generals, politicians, poets and statesmen who helped shape our great nation. Although the most famous monuments and memorials are on the National Mall, you will find statues and plaques on many street corners around the city. Since Washington, DC's monuments are spread out, it is hard to visit all of them on foot. I travel to DC on a regular basis and there are many I’ve never taken the time to see. On this trip, Missy, Leslie and I headed out on a foot-tour to see many of these memorials and monuments.

The Washington Monument was our first stop.. and though I often spend time at this one on my DC visits, its usually as one of the frequently seen runners decked out in my Nikes and iPod. From there we walked to the World War II Memorial. This beautiful structure serves as a peaceful place to remember those who served our country during World War II. The pool of water between the WWII Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial was frozen solid from the recent arctic temperatures that the area has been through so I actually got the chance to “walk on water”. This was quickly nixed by a ranger who kindly advised me that if I fell in he would not save me. Feeling slightly annoyed (since we happened to be a few of the hundreds of people who were on the ice, yet were the only ones scolded) we headed up to the Lincoln Memorial. Thirty-eight Grecian columns surround a statue of Lincoln seated on a ten-foot high marble base. This impressive statue is surrounded by engraved readings of the Gettysburg address, his Second Inaugural address and murals by French painter Jules Guerin.

Walking the grounds is an experience in and of itself. The National Park System certainly has a presence with staff littered everywhere. We enjoyed walking along the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and as one visitor commented so eloquently to her five-year old daughter, “thankfully I don’t know any names on that wall because that would be mean they are no longer here with us.” The V-shaped granite wall is inscribed with the names of the 58,209 Americans missing or killed in the Vietnam War. Across the lawn is a life size bronze sculpture of three young servicemen. Of course we snapped photos at all of these sites as if we were professional photographers. From here we headed over to the Korean Veterans Memorial, but not before being stopped by a lovely older park ranger in the information booth who yelled out “Boo Saints!” Not taking kindly to anyone who doesn’t embrace the boys in black & gold, we stopped to discover and wonderful gentleman who explained that to attract pretty girls to talk to him he was willing to pull out all stops. Harmless and sweet we laughed and discussed the wonderful Saints and their destiny of SuperBowl fame with him for a while before moving on.

The Korean War Veterans Memorial was a neat experience from an artistic standpoint for me. Our nation honors those who were killed, captured, wounded or remain missing in action during the Korean War (1950 -1953). Nineteen figures represent every ethnic background. The statues are supported by a granite wall with 2,400 faces of land, sea and air support troops. A Pool of Remembrance lists the names of the lost Allied Forces.

The infamous words found on the wall of the Korean War Veterans Memorial have never been so true as they are these days… many of us knowing someone who has been or is still serving our country. “Freedom Is Not Free.” And spending a day being reminded of the many heroes who have paid this price so I could spend such a day was humbling and wonderful.