Memorial Day

This Memorial Day, I have a powerful memory to reflect on.

A couple of weeks ago, I was in Washington DC to visit a friend. I was able to spend one whole day exploring the National Mall, seeing new things and revisiting a few of my favorite spots. I love DC and have been fortunate enough to visit there several times.

One of my “must sees” was the World War II memorial. This memorial was completed in 2004 and is a beautiful memorial. It sits just across the street from the Washington Monument and at the end of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. It is in my top four “fave” places in DC.

I had intended to arrive at the memorial before noon as I had a timed entrance pass for the new National Museum of African American History and Culture for 12:30 but walking along the Mall always takes much longer than you think it would. So my visit to the memorial had to wait until after my Museum visit.

I could write about five blog entries about the African American Museum and not even scratch the surface. There is so much to see and learn and think about. I went through quickly and will be happy if I can return again someday.

I left the museum and headed off for the World War II Memorial.

As I was approaching, I saw five tour buses drive up with a police escort and park off to the side. My immediate thought was that maybe that was an Honor Flight group. Don’t know what Honor Flight is? Check out this link. Www.honorflight.org

For a few years now, I have had the desire to be an escort for a veteran on an Honor Flight. I’ve wanted to do this in honor of my Dad. My Dad was a Vietnam War veteran – he was a reconnaissance pilot. He served our country for 27 years. He ultimately succumbed to Agent Orange induced lung cancer in 2013. However, I have come to realize that time and our own family circumstances will most likely not allow me to volunteer in that capacity.

So imagine my delight and then overpowering emotion as I realized that, yes, those buses were full of veterans coming to visit the memorials. As they began appearing around the area, some walking, some in wheelchairs, I was overcome. The tears fell from my face and I could not believe that God had actually brought me to that exact place at that exact time so that I could witness something that I had long wanted to be a part of.

I took a seat on a bench and soaked it all in. I watched as other people there realized what was happening and started greeting the veterans. There only a couple of WW II veterans but many were Korean and Vietnam veterans.

I sat there so grateful for their service and for the opportunity to see this visit happening.

After several minutes, I composed myself enough to speak to a few of the veterans. I thanked many of them for their service.

I stayed as long as I could and then reluctantly set off to head to the airport.

There are many lovely components of the memorial. But my favorite is this wall of Stars. Each star here represents 100 lives lost in WW II. There are 448 Stars.

The engraved stone in front of them says “Here we mark the price of freedom.”

I heard on the radio the other day that more than 1 million lives have been lost in defense of our freedom. May we never forget the sacrifices made.

Our freedom is not free.

God Bless the men that have paid the price.

God Bless America.