Iwo Jima; Very Impressive!

Based on the photo by Joe Rosenthal, this massive statue sits outside the walls of Arlington as a Memorial for all Marines, in all the wars, who have lost their lives since 1775.  The whole thing is very impressive.  Michelle and I walked from Arlington out around about a half mile to the memorial.  I loved walking around it and didn't realize how massive the statue is.  Granted, this isn't one of the more popular DC sites, but like I said before, this trip wasn't about what is popular, but about patriotism for me.  I believe this comes from the fact that I had two grandpas that fought in WWII.  One who didn't make it home and many other ancestors that fought for the cause of freedom all through American History.  So freedom is something close to my heart and something I hope can stay alive through these troubled time.  Anyway, This memorial is definately  something to see!

Reverence for Lives Lost

Michelle and I decided to take the metro into DC to see some sights.  The coolest part is that her friend Jennifer works at the Pentagon and got us in on a tour!  Not just any tour, but an exclusive tour that I doubt we would have had unless we worked there!  Just to get in you have to have someone with their credentials and you have to have TWO forms of PICTURE ID.  Luckily I had my Costco card as well as my driver's license!  After we went through that process, we came into the main entrance for the employees and there were two huge quilts hanging on the walls that looked like American Flags.  They had the names of the victims that were lost on 9/11.  Right after you get into the secured area, there is a gift shop, barbershop, bank and places like that.  It's like a city within a city.  We walked around and looked into a room where they do press conferences and give awards in.  We looked around at some of the recipients for different awards.  Then she took us down a hallway that we instantly knew was where important people were, just by the wood paneling and paintings of all the past Secretaries of Defense through U.S. history.  They she led us past Secretary Gates office, and we all peeked in as we past, because his was one of the only doors that was open!  We saw the offices of the joint chiefs and some other important people.  It was cool and by the speed at which we moved through, was probably something that might have been frowned upon.  So we felt very lucky to get this kind of tour.  Plus, I failed to mention that we had baby Libby in a stroller and as we passed people, they would smile at her and comment about how cute and smiley she was!  Love that child!

When we were done looking around she took us out of the building and we walked around the outside to the 9/11 memorial is located.  It was very cool and very sad at the same time.  It's different than any other memorial I've seen.  Here is some info I got about it off the website to understand it a little bit better:

The Pentagon Memorial was constructed from a design by Beckman and Kaseman of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with design support from Buro Happold, that was chosen following a design competition. To honor the 184 victims, 184 illuminated benches have been arranged according to the victim's ages, starting with Dana Falkenberg, 3, to John Yamnicky Sr., 71, in a landscaped 1.93-acre (7,800 m²) plot. Each bench is engraved with the name of a victim. The benches representing the victims that were inside the Pentagon are arranged so those reading the names will face the Pentagon's south facade, where the plane hit; benches dedicated to victims aboard the plane are arranged so that those reading the engraved name will be facing skyward along the path the plane traveled.  About 85 paperbark maple trees are planted on the memorial grounds.

As I walked around I was impressed and saddened to think of the year inscribed around the memorial. It was 1998.  That meant that a three-year-old was on the plane and lost her life.  I also saw the year 1966 which is the year I was born and it made me realize that life is fragile and you don't know, as you go along your course in life, when you may not make it home.  It surely was sobering.  The memorials themselves are unique, but a wonderful tribute.  I'm glad we went.  

After we finished walking around we left Jennifer and got back on the metro to go to Arlington.  Wow that place has a lot of interesting history and is really beautiful.  Here is some interesting history about our National Cemetery:

George Washington Parke Custis, grandson of Martha Washington, acquired the land that now is Arlington National Cemetery in 1802, and began construction of Arlington House. The estate was passed down to Custis' and his wife's (Mary Lee Fitzhugh Custis) only surviving adult child Mary Anna Custis Lee^[1] who was married to Robert E. Lee, a West Point graduate and United States Army officer. When Fort Sumter was forced to surrender at the beginning of the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln offered Lee command of the federal army. Lee demurred, wanting to see if his native Virginia would decide to secede.

When Virginia announced its decision, Lee resigned his commission and took command of the armed forces of the Commonwealth of Virginia, later becoming commander of the Army of Northern Virginia.^[2] He quickly established himself as an able commander, defeating a series of Union generals, until his final defeat and surrender at the McLean House. Because of this decision and subsequent performance, Lee was regarded as disloyal by most Union officers. The decision was made to appropriate a portion of Arlington as a graveyard for mostly Union dead.^[3]

American military cemeteries developed from the duty of commanders on the frontier and in battle to care for their casualties. When Civil War casualties overflowed hospitals and burial grounds near Washington, D.C., Quartermaster General Montgomery C. Meigs proposed in 1864 that 200 acres (0.81 km²) of the Robert E. Lee family property at Arlington be taken for a cemetery.

The government had acquired Arlington at tax sale in 1864 for $26,800.^[4] Mrs. Lee had not appeared in person, but rather had sent an agent, attempting to timely pay the $92.07 in property taxes assessed the estate.^[5] The government turned away her agent, refusing to accept the tendered payment. In 1874, Custis Lee, heir under his grandfather's will passing the estate in trust to his mother, sued the United States claiming ownership of Arlington. After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in Lee's favor in United States v. Lee, deciding that Arlington had been confiscated without due process,^[5] Congress returned the estate to him. The next year Custis Lee sold it back to the government for $150,000 at a signing ceremony with Robert Todd Lincoln, Secretary of War.^[6]

Military burials were previously done at the United States Soldiers' National Cemetery in Washington, D.C., but space was filling up.^[4] "We pray for those who lost their lives.", Meigs wrote, "The grounds about the mansion are admirably adapted to such a use." Burials had in fact begun at Arlington before the ink was even blotted on Meigs's proposal.

The southern portion of the land now occupied by the cemetery was used during and after the Civil War as a settlement for freed slaves. More than 1,100 freed slaves were given land at Freedman's Village by the government, where they farmed and lived during and after the Civil War. They were turned out in 1888 when the estate was repurchased by the government and dedicated as a military installation.

President Herbert Hoover conducted the first national Memorial Day ceremony in Arlington National Cemetery, on May 30, 1929.^{[7] (Taken from the Wikipedia website)}

So we decided to head up to the Graves of the Unknowns to see the changing of the guard there. It was very interesting and something I've always wanted to see. These Marines are so precise and so respectful. I was in awe watching this ceremony that happens every hour of every day 365 days a year.

I enjoyed walking around snapping pictures.  It was a cool spring day, but the sun was shinning

The trees all were blossoming and made it so beautiful.  I loved taking pictures with the blossoms in them.

Here's the Kennedy's grave.  There are only two presidents buried here.  I thought that was interesting.

Next stop: Iwo Jima

Memories revisited: The Washington DC Temple

 I have had a memory etched into my brain of the DC temple.  But it's getting foggier and foggier the older I get.  I haven't been back to see this temple since the original open house in 1974.  My family was living in Michigan at the time and I remember the excitement as time drew closer to its dedication.  It was the first North American temple built East of the Mississippi since Nauvoo, and the Saints in our area were ecstatic to have a temple within a 24 hour drive!  My mom was in a dedicatory choir that sang at one of the dedication sessions and I thought that was so cool!  I remember driving on the Beltway and being completely awestruck as the temple appreared so big and beautiful!  I also remember walking through the open house and being very impressed at the simple elegance of the celestial room.  But the biggest impression was the feeling I felt while I was in there.  This was my very first experience entering the Lord's house and I knew then that I would be married in the temple someday.

 I remember hearing the statistics about how much marble covered the temple and being very impressed.  When I got home I did a report for school on Washington DC, but most of the report was on the temple. Now I sort of chortle as I think that my non-member third grade teacher read it and had me read it to the whole class.

 So on Sunday after Church, Michelle and I decided to take the kids and go to the Visitor's Center at the temple.  As we got there, the sun was on it's way down, so I hurried around and snapped a few shots of it.  I love how the daffodils were up.  I just love the spires and how magnificent the whole building is.  It was chilly so Mik took the kids in and waited for me. When I came back in she mentioned that there would be a small concert there and we could stay.  It was really lovely and just so happened to be a Chamber orchestra with a few guest artists.  The orchestra was made up of musicians from surrounding stakes.

 Mik ran into a few friends from her ward there that night and as we were leaving, one of them volunteered to take us on a tour of the Pentagon since she worked there.  We were so excited to plan to meet her Tuesday morning and do something a little out of the ordinary for most people.

Anyway, I was so glad that I got to go and walk around and hope I can get back there sometime to go in and do some temple work.  We would have if we didn't have to worry about Libby.  Oh, well, I was there and got to snap some pictures and admire its beauty.  That's enough for now.

Monticello: My new found love for Jefferson

So Michelle and I decided to reserve a hotel room and take off down to Charlottesville as soon as the kids walked in from school.  Like I said in my previous post, Michelle deferred to me to drive and I accepted without hesitation.  I really don't mind driving because it gives me perspective and a hands-on way of figuring out where I am in relation from place to place.

After we finally got thru the worst of the traffic (which was pretty bad) I was able to notice the landscape and the beauty of the drive.  I also noticed that along the roads were lots of historical landmarks which seemed to be mostly of Civil War times.  I think it  would be so great to just spend some time stopping at these places along the way and learning about what they are and what happened there.  Another time, perhaps.  I really loved the rolling hills and tall trees and could totally visualize Jefferson and Madison riding through the trees on their horses coming and going from place to place.  I also could imagine the indians hiding in these groves along the roads.

After a crazy night, we finally made our way up and out to Monticello.  It really is a beautiful place and I can totally understand why Jefferson's family loved it there.  Thomas Jefferson actually inherited the land from his father.  The view is beautiful and even a portion of it now it looks down over the University of Virginia (Of which Thomas Jefferson was the founder).

Jefferson loved to learn and loved to read!  He found pure joy in being at Monticello with his family and his books.  He was interested in everything, it seems, from Gardening to astronomy.  He sold his collection of books that became the nucleus of the Library of Congress.

Monticello is a beautiful, self sustaining plantation that had hundreds of slaves.  Jefferson is criticized for this, but as I have thought about it, I think I have a small understanding of how he knew that it was a problem for a different generation.  Jefferson really was ahead of his time in some of the more modern conveniences of the time.  He always looked for a "better way" to do things which is very apparent in his house and around the plantation.  He had indoor toilets with a plumbing system, He had a large ice house, he had figured out a dumb waiter system to get wine from his cellar.  I got the strong feeling that he was a man who believed in convenience and I think if he were to see our day, he would love the computer age!

 He studied architecture and while he was in Europe as ambassador of France and secretary of state he admired and sent home drawings and finally brought his ideas home with him and started building Monticello. Also the Virginia State Capitol and University of Virginia also built after this same classical Roman style.

 This thing is actually hooked to a weather vane on the roof, but he figured a way to be able to stay inside his home and be able to peek out the window and be able to tell which way the wind was blowing. Very ingenious!


Out on the back side of the house are these wooden planked walkways, Michelle pointed out the windows underneath.  We walked around where you could go under to the stables, storage areas and slave quarters.  It's pretty impressive to see this small city almost completely underground. Can you see the windows under the walkway.  This is the outside view and then here's  (opposite) what it looks like from below.

You come out from the sides where these columns are and there are the doors into the different quarters and working areas.











 My other favorite things I learned or was reminded about Thomas Jefferson besides being our third president and drafting the Declaration of Independence are: He was responsible for the Louisiana Purchase, He supported the Lewis and Clark expedition, drafted the Virginia statute for religious freedom with his friend, James Madison, and he died a few hours before his friend, John Adams on July 4, 1826.

Favorite Quotes by Thomas Jefferson:

"I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man".

"Never spend money before you have earned it".

"Never buy what you don't want because it is cheap"

Here are just some different views of the house and yard.  It was a semi overcast day, but not as cold and dreary as it could have been!  We had so much fun together and I just love the education I got.  For sure I have a much better understanding of him, not only as one of the founders of this country, but as a God-fearing, educated man.  I am so glad we made the effort to go and I am so grateful my sweet sister was not only willing but happy to take me and drag her kiddies with us.  They were so good and we had a nice time!

 On the way home we found out that we passed right by Montpelier, which was the home of James and Dolly Madison.  Unfortunately, we spent too much time at Monticello, that we were a half hour late getting to Montpelier and couldn't go through.  But we did crash the gate and drove up onto the grounds and I took a picture!  Oh, well, maybe next time.

Next, The DC Temple....Stay tuned!