We are tired today!

21 Oct 09—We walked more today that any day yet I think…either that or I was a lot fresher in the beginning.

We met 2 really nice people who are at the Famcamp with us…on the train to DC! We just happened to strike up a conversation with them on the train, and then realized they are in an RV 7 spots up from where we are. They have been doing this for years, so they gave us some good info later in the day when we all got back to the base. They even take military flights overseas and stay for 2-3 months at a time….how cool is that???

Anyway, we started out our day at the Jefferson Memorial, dedicated in 1939, and another in a long line of great memorials.

Unlike the Lincoln Memorial though, which it reminded me of somewhat, this one has a “downstairs” inside that you take an elevator to and has quite a bit of info on Jefferson and his life. (Like he started studying Latin, Greek and French at the age of 9!) Can you imagine? They always say that Washington is the “father of the country”, but if you ask me Jefferson is “the brains behind the operation”. I read a lot about him that I didn’t know, and I came away quite impressed.

If you read the quote on the left of Jefferson's statue, I think you will agree with me that Thomas here pretty much nips in the bud the theory that the Constitution should be read as it was intended over 200 years ago, as some of the clowns on our current Supreme Court believe.

So from there we walked over to the FDR Memorial, and sadly it was the 1st one that I was really not very impressed with. This was not dedicated until 1997, and you can definitely tell the difference in styles between the majesty of the old, and the blandness of the contemporary style. It is unfortunate, because it actually probably takes up more landmass than any of the other memorials, but because it is laid out linearly, you really don’t get a sense of greatness like you do the others.

After this we had a long walk ahead of us as we headed to Arlington National Cemetery. We had to walk along the Potomac to cross the Arlington Memorial Bridge, then we 1st stopped at the Women in Military Service for America Memorial (That’s a mouthful, huh?) This was also dedicated in 1997…but a little nicer, or more “memorially”, than FDR’s I think. It was interesting that the women who served in WWII weren’t given “veteran” status until 1977…better late than

never, I guess.

This quilt displays the names of all the women who have died in the service since the Global War on Terror began.

Next we went into Arlington National Cemetery and headed straight over to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and then over to JFK’s burial site...the eternal flame is burning, you just can't tell in the picture. Jackie O is beside JFK. Most interesting to me was the house you can see, actually directly up from JFK, which once belonged to Robert E Lee. This land used to belong to him. After there were so many casualties in the Civil War, a Union General proposed that 200 acres of the Lee property be taken for a cemetery. Later, one of Lee’s heirs sued in the Supreme Court because this land was taken, so the government eventually paid for $150,000.00 for it.