WWII Memorial

The 52Frames photo challenge this week was “single focal point” and I thought we could find something appropriate at the WWII Memorial down by the Tidal Basin. So we drove out there last week after the snow kept us home bound for four days. It was a beautiful blue sky day but chilly. We parked at the tidal basin and walked over from there. We hadn’t actually walked by the memorial for a few years, but have driven by it in just about every season when we lived on Capitol Hill. None of the fountains were on, and hardly anyone was around. I paid more attention to the Atlantic side, because both of my parents served in WWII from Massachusetts. I registered them on the memorial website and shared their photos and stories. The gold stars are compelling as it tallies up the war dead in a stunning display. I thought this would make a great entry but decided on the flock of geese that unexpectedly flew overhead. The image looked interesting after a bit of editing. We then walked down constitution Avenue a bit and then over to the Washington monument. It’s probably the second most photographed place after the Capitol, which was our neighborhood for thirteen years. We look forward to our weekly drives in to town. It’s a great diversion and wonderful source for taking inspiring photos - and an excuse to get out of the house. 

USS Newell and My Dad on Veterans Day

My brother has it now - the scrapbook our dad meticulously maintained and chronicled his twenty one years of Coast Guard service. My dad never talked about the adventures per se, but it seemed to be the happiest - and scariest - times in his life. He has a few medals from WWII and Korea. He even kept a few of his uniforms and is buried in one of them. He and my mom, who was a Navy veteran, are resting at Florida National Cemetery side by side. I remember visiting ships as a youngster whenever my dad was in port, and even after he left the service. He loved the water. There was an account of one of the ships he served on - the USS Newell - among the photos and trinkets. He must have requested it from the Navy Department in 1952. It tells the history of the ship and the role it played in WWII. My dad was in the engine room, where the hatches would be closed off in the event of a torpedo strike. It happened in a convoy in North Africa but luckily his ship was not hit. The photos of the event are somehow lost, but I remember looking at them - explosions, picking up survivors ... today is the day we honor all these servicemen and women on Veterans Day. It is well deserved. 

 

Eisenhower Memorial

We’ve walked and driven by the construction site of the Eisenhower Memorial for about two years? It’s located across from the Air and Space Museum on Independence Avenue, not far from our old condo on Capitol Hill. The fence surrounding it was finally removed and the memorial was dedicated about two weeks ago and finally opened after being commissioned by President Clinton all those years ago. Last Sunday we drove by it and last Tuesday we decided to take our morning walk to it. What’s nice about it is that it is more like a park where one can easily pass through it without a lot of inconvenience. It even has a little outdoor shop and restroom - something quite unusual near the National Mall. The backdrop is supposed to represent the Normandy Coast, but it’s difficult to make out against the building behind it. It’s quite simple and pleasant all around. We have visited Eisenhower’s home in Gettysburg, and his boyhood home and library in Abilene Kansas on our road trip west to California. Eisenhower is probably the first President I recognized as a youngster. We will need to come visit again in the evening when the lights are aglow. It is supposed to be stunning - particularly the tapestry behind and the uplights from below. There was a lot of fuss about this memorial of which I don’t know the specific details. Whatever they were, you would never know it. 

USS Newell and My Dad’s Coast Guard Scrapbook

My mom passed away last month. She was 97. It’s hard to believe she was 97! My dad passed away in 2015 at 95. This time we all needed to go through and keep all the mementos that we cherished before handing the house over to the next door neighbors who cared for mom the last few years. Both my parents were in the military in WWII. Mom had a great Navy scrapbook and Dad had two well documented Coast Guard scrapbooks. We think we will be donating them somewhere but haven’t figured it out yet. We have dog tags and medals, and even an officer’s well preserved jacket. There is also a letter from 1939 requesting special permission for dad to enlist from his father because he was underage. The history of the USS Newell is well documented, but my dad never talked about it. He was in the engine room and their convoy took direct hits. He always said he would never take a cruise across the Atlantic because they made several during the war to North Africa and the Mediterranean. The photographs tell a story in time - we especially like the Washington DC and Wisconsin items. He was very proud of his twenty one years in the Coast Guard. His story is a great one to tell. 

A Day to Remember

My dad died on Father's Day. The things most important to him were his 21 years of service in the Coast Guard, serving in WWII, being around water, and moving us all to Florida when he retired. He will be buried in his Coast Guard uniform. As difficult as all this is, my parents arranged for all their funeral plans ten years ago making it all so much easier because all the decisions were already made. So yesterday when I looked up at the night sky, the moon was brilliant with Venus sitting next to it. In the distance in the opposite direction was a show of lightning and thunder. I could only imagine how often my dad looked up from on board a ship and saw these same sights. Yesterday morning was a brilliant sunny sky. My dad would have liked that. The night sky was a little sad and was mourning along with me. My dad had a good life and left everything in perfect order and I'm not a bit surprised. 

VE Day Flyover the Mall in DC

My colleague at work told me about it yesterday. There was to be a big flyover the Mall today to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day with many vintage aircraft from WWII. So I checked out the flight path and convinced my husband it worth be worth walking over to see the skies above from a great vantage point. I'm really sorry we didn't walk down to the WWII memorial because the crowds were there, but all along Independence Avenue and on every rooftop there were bystanders waiting for the action. We decided to stop and sit on a bench under the shade in Bartholdi Park. At the appointed time, they started showing up in groups of 1 to 6 or more. Unfortunately, the path was much more to the south than we and the crowd thought. So people moved over to get better views of the airplanes heading east and then veering south to head on to Virginia. We started walking back home and realized the best view for us would have been right on our patio looking straight up. One can only imagine what went on in the minds of those who actually flew those aircraft in the forties. My dad was on a destroyer escort during WWII and he never really talked about it, but he kept some great scrapbooks with very telling photos. Being in the engine room on a ship in the middle of a battle could not have been pleasant to say the least. And so it was, seventy years later, a lot of folks paid respects to what went on then. These are the times I really like living in DC.