#16 Maryland Blue Crabs, Washington, DC, Arlington National Cemetery, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, World War II Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Korean War Vet Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial

We returned to Washington, DC on August 3.  Some of you may remember how unusually hot and miserable most of the Midwest and East Coast was during July.  We just lucked out when we went home for a month, so we missed it.  Our original plan was to travel continuously, so in retrospect taking a month break was perfect timing.

August 4 Thursday

We drove from Dulles up to Baltimore on Thursday, and I can report that traffic around DC was bad as any in LA, but we had allowed plenty of time to get to our customer's office and enjoyed our visit with Judy Banks and Karen Cashman at UTC Overseas, an international freight forwarding and customs brokerage company.  Unfortunately, Judy and Karen did not have time to join Reyna and I for lunch today, but we were planning to see them again in about a week for the Baltimore Propeller Club's annual Crab Fest to which Reyna and I had been invited by UTC.   So Reyna and I took our hunger for Maryland blue crabs  (we certainly weren't going to wait a week) and headed east out of Baltimore and over to the Chesapeake Bay and south on state highway 173 along the coast.  We stopped at the first crab shack restaurant diner we saw and were not disappointed.

Dozen mediums for $25.

Just exactly what we were seeking.

After lunch, we took back roads into DC for some sight-seeing and got into the city about 4:30.  Even so, the traffic was manageable.

The Capitol -- traffic not so bad at 4:30 in the afternoon.

West Side of the Capitol facing the Mall



Washington Monument directly west of the Capitol on the Mall



Looking back at DC from across the Potomac in Arlington, VA



 Apartments and offices in Arlington on way to Arlington National Cemetery




The Women In Military Service for America Memorial at entrance to Arlington National Cemetery.  Because of Reyna’s disabled status, we were allowed to drive into and around the Cemetery instead of having to park in main parking lot at entrance and walk or take shuttle.





The Amphitheater at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  The Tomb is directly behind it from here.

 

Inside the Amphitheater



Meadowlark?

 In honor of personnel lost trying to rescue hostages in  Iran

Space Shuttle Coliumbia

You will probablyi need to zoom in to read the interesting story of how the Unknown Soldiers from WWI, WWII, Korean War, and Viet Nam War were selected.  The Vietnam era soldier was later disinterred and identified through DNA.  There is no unknown soldier from the Viet Nam war.



Honor guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier



21 steps each direction



The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Visitors waiting for the changing of the guard ceremony

From the top of the Women inn Military Service for America Memorial looking down

Memorial Drive

towards DC

World War II Memorial



World War II Memorial



As you enter the Memorial there is a series of bronze reliefs showing a boy becoming a man and then a soldier and the course of the War and returning home.




 I was really taken by how lifelike the sculptures are.

DEAD:  USA  54,246  UN:  628,833

The Lincoln Memorial.  The Korean Veteran and Viet Nam Veteran memorials are right next to the Lincoln Memorial. 



Looking east from the Lincoln Memorial.  The Reflecting Pool is drained and undergoing major overhaul.


 



A young Japanese man and I took each other's photos.  He was from Hiroshima and on a two week vacation in the US.  He had rented a motorcycle in LA and had crossed to DC in a week.  He was headed back to LA to return the bike.  He was traveling alone.  Pretty intrepid. 

Gettysburg Address on one wall inside the Memorial

Just outside the Vietnam War Memorial

At the beginning of the Wall of the Vietnam War Memorial

HOW ARE THE NAMES ARRANGED ON THE WALL?

They are in chronological order, according to the date of casualty within each day, the names are alphabetized. For the dead, the date of casualty is the date they were wounded (received in combat) or injured (received in an accident); for the missing, the date they were reported to be missing. The list starts and ends at the vertex (apex), beginning at the date 1959 (with first two names listed from the date of July 8, 1959) and the inscription (IN HONOR OF THE MEN AND WOMEN OF THE ARMED FORCES OF THE UNITED STATES WHO SERVED IN THE VIETNAM WAR. THE NAMES OF THOSE WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES AND OF THOSE WHO REMAIN MISSING ARE INSCRIBED IN THE ORDER THEY WERE TAKEN FROM US.) on panel 1E and going out to the end of the East wall, appearing to recede into the earth (numbered 70E - May 25, 1968), then resuming at the end of the West wall, as the wall emerges from the earth (numbered 70W - continuing May 25, 1968) and ending with the date of 1975 and its inscription (OUR NATION HONORS THE COURAGE, SACRIFICE AND DEVOTION TO DUTY AND COUNTRY OF ITS VIETNAM VETERANS. THIS MEMORIAL WAS BUILT WITH PRIVATE CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. NOVEMBER 11, 1982) at the bottom of 1W (last 18 names listed are from May 15, 1975). Thus the war's beginning and end meet; the war's complete, coming full circle, yet broken by the earth that bounds the angle's open side and contained within the earth itself. Although 1959 is marked as the beginning on Panel 1, East wall, a Captain (Army) Harry G. Cramer was killed 21 October 1957 during a training action. He is listed on line 78, panel 1, East wall, which was added approximately a year after the Memorial was dedicated.

HOW MANY NAMES ARE ON THE MEMORIAL?

With the addition of six names added in 2010 the total is now 58,272 names listed on the Memorial. Approximately 1200 of these are listed as missing (MIA's, POW's, and others).

THE FIRST KNOWN CASUALTY

Richard B. Fitzgibbon, of North Weymouth, Mass. is listed by the U.S. Department of Defense as having a casualty date of June 8, 1956.
His name is listed on the Wall with that of his son, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Richard B. Fitzgibbon III, who has a casualty date of Sept. 7, 1965.

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The height of the Wall diminishes as the War winds down and the number of dead dwindle.



Military nurses statue just outside Vietnam War Memorial



 

On way over to Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial.  The lawn everywhere around the Mall and all the monuments and memorials is pretty tattered here at mid-summer.





Entrance to Franklin Delano Roosesvelt Memorial

 

FDR in wheel chair from polio.

Multiple waterfalls in the FDR Memorial.

It's 8:30 in the evening for this photo.  Time to head back to hotel.

After four whirlwind tourist hours, we were ready to head back to our hotel.  Hit lane closures for repair or maintenance or whatever on way back to Crowne Plaza at Dulles, so ended up being a pretty long trip home in bumper to bumper traffic.  This may have been the evening we missed our offramp and didn't realize it for too many miles.  Since the missed offramp was from a tollroad, we got to pay for our (my?) error.