Post by beirutvet on Jun 22, 2017 5:56:04 GMT 8
Last week my wife and I did a road trip to our nations capital. It was not hard finding references to WWII. We started our trip actually just outside of Washington DC in Arlington, VA. Here is what we recorded.
Being a former Marine I noticed this grave immediately. In a very prominent location close to the entrance and clearly visible from the road is the grave sight of General Alexander Archer Vandegrift who commanded the First Marine Division at Guadalcanal and later became the 18th Commandant of the Marine Corps.
All along the walkways there were these small memorials to specific units. For unknown reasons I just happened to stop and look at this one. I was glad that I did.
511th
Saw these beauties sitting on a hill. Perhaps we can have Batteryboy give us the particulars.
Here is the eternal flame atop the grave of John F Kennedy who served in the Pacific. In the background you can see the former home of confederate general Robert E Lee and the flag at half mast.
This memorial was for the Underwater Demolition Team divers who I believe were the precursors to the Navy Seals of today. Maybe we can get our own resident Navy diver Karl to give us the facts on this.
At the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum there were plenty of references to WWII in the Pacific.
Here we see the vaunted Mitsubishi A6M5, the scourge of the Pacific.
Here is a view of the underside of this Zero.
Here is an example of the DC 3 in the guise of Eastern Airlines, but WWII buffs know this plane well. It served in just about every theater of operation under the Army designation of C 47 and the Navy designation of the R4D.
And what trip to the DC area would be complete for a former Marine without visiting the Iwo Jima Memorial.
Around the base of the memorial are written all the major campaigns for the Marine Corps. Here we see the Spanish American war on the south side of the base.
The east side has the commemoration.
The north side needs no intro from me.
I had been to DC many times, years ago, so I never saw the WWII Memorial until this trip. It is perfectly situated on the National Mall in between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument. It has 2 four sided arches at the north and south ends one dedicated to the Pacific and the other to the Atlantic.
It is beautiful, respectful and well done.
Around the base of the arches are written the major events of the Pacific side of the war. Someone had placed flowers. I wish I could have met who did.
Here is a nice view of a quote from FDR's speech with the Washington Monument in the background.
Along the side were many pictorial depictions of major events. This was the last one and I interpreted it as the freeing of POWs.
From that spot, here is a shot of the Washington Monument to the east.
And here is a view to the west looking through the WWII Memorial to the Lincoln Memorial.
Same view from about 200 yards to the east.
All in all, a magnificent, inspiring and humbling visit.
Being a former Marine I noticed this grave immediately. In a very prominent location close to the entrance and clearly visible from the road is the grave sight of General Alexander Archer Vandegrift who commanded the First Marine Division at Guadalcanal and later became the 18th Commandant of the Marine Corps.
All along the walkways there were these small memorials to specific units. For unknown reasons I just happened to stop and look at this one. I was glad that I did.
511th
Saw these beauties sitting on a hill. Perhaps we can have Batteryboy give us the particulars.
Here is the eternal flame atop the grave of John F Kennedy who served in the Pacific. In the background you can see the former home of confederate general Robert E Lee and the flag at half mast.
This memorial was for the Underwater Demolition Team divers who I believe were the precursors to the Navy Seals of today. Maybe we can get our own resident Navy diver Karl to give us the facts on this.
At the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum there were plenty of references to WWII in the Pacific.
Here we see the vaunted Mitsubishi A6M5, the scourge of the Pacific.
Here is a view of the underside of this Zero.
Here is an example of the DC 3 in the guise of Eastern Airlines, but WWII buffs know this plane well. It served in just about every theater of operation under the Army designation of C 47 and the Navy designation of the R4D.
And what trip to the DC area would be complete for a former Marine without visiting the Iwo Jima Memorial.
Around the base of the memorial are written all the major campaigns for the Marine Corps. Here we see the Spanish American war on the south side of the base.
The east side has the commemoration.
The north side needs no intro from me.
I had been to DC many times, years ago, so I never saw the WWII Memorial until this trip. It is perfectly situated on the National Mall in between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument. It has 2 four sided arches at the north and south ends one dedicated to the Pacific and the other to the Atlantic.
It is beautiful, respectful and well done.
Around the base of the arches are written the major events of the Pacific side of the war. Someone had placed flowers. I wish I could have met who did.
Here is a nice view of a quote from FDR's speech with the Washington Monument in the background.
Along the side were many pictorial depictions of major events. This was the last one and I interpreted it as the freeing of POWs.
From that spot, here is a shot of the Washington Monument to the east.
And here is a view to the west looking through the WWII Memorial to the Lincoln Memorial.
Same view from about 200 yards to the east.
All in all, a magnificent, inspiring and humbling visit.