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Arlington National Cemetery...they average around 30 funerals there a
day...you hear salutes being fired...sadly alot!! Just as our four
guys were following the Honor Guard down to the tomb for the wreath
presentation, one of our guys stumbled on the first step and started
to fall. |
| The Honor Guard didn't miss a beat...he reached over and
grabbed him by the arm and said "I have you, sir" and held his elbow
down to the tomb and back up the stairs after the presentation.....the
new guard taking care of the old guard...passing of the torch. |
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Donovan Walters is my mother's cousin that didn't make it back from
Viet Nam. He was a pilot and just before he was to come home, he was
assigned just one more flight....the war ended within just a couple of
months after that. He was MIA for several years but his family did
finally receive "something" that allowed them to have a funeral. |
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The statue (I'm sure most of you know this) is dedicated to the nurses
that were in Viet Nam....the sculptor is from Lubbock....Glenna
Goodacre. |
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Marine Corp Memorial (Iwo Jima). The two men standing next to the
wreath are both Marines (there were several others in our group) but I
know one of these men was at Iwo Jima and perhaps the other one, too.
The one on the left is in his own uniform...he still fits him
perfectly.
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My dad seldom wears a hat but he did on this day. I thought he looked
great in it but he is a bit conscious of it. |
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As you drive or walk
around this huge memorial, an optical illusion is produced that
actually looks as if the flagpole is getting raised!
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Don't know why
but I am always drawn to the hands on the pole....strong, forceful but
so protective.| [Editor's note] An interesting story has been circulating for about a decade now about a thirteenth hand on the flag-pole. Read about it at Snopes.com. |
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This is the Korea Memorial which is the most eerie to me because of the
statues and the lighting (natural and evening lighting) throwing
ghostly shadows across the statue faces.
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The granite wall is lasered
with actual photograph reproductions of people who served during that
conflict and as you walk by... their images kind of float out at you.
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There were Korean tourists at this memorial when we were and they
watched the wreath ceremony with upmost respect.
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There was also a
wreath there that had been placed by the "People of South Korea" with
"profound gratitude".
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These are pictures taken this past week when Dad and I traveled to
Washington D.C. with the Texas Panhandle Honor Flight for Veterans.
Our first stop was at the World War II Memorial. The group placed two
wreaths at this memorial..one on the Atlantic side and one on the
Pacific side. It worked out that Dad was one of two who placed the
Pacific wreath.
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In total, there were 139 in the group...mostly
veterans and their "buddies" and the team leaders...there were also
two camera crews from Amarillo that came along.
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These vets also placed wreaths at the Marine Corp (Iwo Jima) Memorial,
The Vietnam Wall, Korean Memorial and the Tomb of the Unknown. You
have to have permits to do any of these "placements". Except for
Korea, we had our own bagpiper and at the World War II Memorial and
Unknown Soldier Tomb, we had a trumpeter!! It was all very
humbling...especially hearing some of these vets stories...and it
makes one sooooo proud to be an American!!
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Please notice in the first picture of some of the vets lining up and
there is a man with a cap on wearing a blue jacket and trousers. This
man, Leboeu, is a survivor from the USS Indianapolis....Google it and
then be humbled.
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The picture of the stars is the "Star Wall" at the World War II
Memorial. There are 4000 stars on this wall, each star represents 100
Americans killed during that war.
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