Monuments and Memorials, Part IV

This is the fourth (final) part of “What I Did on My Just-Past-Summer Vacation,” to Washington, DC. The significant element of this trip was how frequently we encountered reverence—for the ideas of freedom and civilization, and for the great people who brought those things to us, out of a world of tyranny and savagery.

The first three parts covered mainly individuals: Part I was Thomas Jefferson; Part II was Abraham Lincoln; Part III was George Washington. This final post will cover a number of people and places I’m glad we got to experience, and I want to share, at least with a photo and a mention.

White House front portico, from Pennsylvania Avenue

We saw the White House from the front and the back. To tour inside these days requires a special invitation from your Congressman, arranged well ahead of time. This was four days before some crazy person jumped the fence and made it inside the front door, which was a huge security breach. With all the security we saw, it’s hard to imagine that happening. We also toured the beautiful White House Visitors Center, about a block away—which was the first place to require inspection on the way it.

White House, back view, where the inauguration takes place



National Archives, where you can see the actual
Declaration of Independence and Constitution

 

 

No photos were allowed inside the Archives, so I just have to remember. The security guard standing next to the Constitution talked with us, about the various signatures and other details. He had an accent, so I asked where he was from. As I assumed, he had become a citizen, which was required in order to work there. He was from Ghana, but now he is American, and very proud of it. And he may know our history better than most of us born here.

 

"Eternal Vigilance Is the Price of Liberty"
aside the entrance to the National Archives
 

 

Inscription on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

 

 

 

We got to witness the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. This was one of the most reverent moments of our trip. We all stood, in silence, throughout. The ceremony takes place whether people are there or not. They revere those sacred dead; we are invited to join them in that honor. We felt privileged to witness it.

Changing of the Guard
at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

 

Retiring the Flag at Arlington Cemetery

 

 

 

After the ceremony, we were waiting for our tour bus, and I ran off to take a few more photos. And I noticed this additional ceremony, the retiring of the flag in early evening. There was no crowd around. The soldiers were doing the honorable ceremony, because that’s what they do. I took the photo from a distance; I was glad I got to see this sacred moment.

 



Among the Acres of Graves at Arlington Cemetery

 

 

 

 

I know it doesn’t sound like a thrilling vacation to go to a cemetery, but Arlington Cemetery is worth experiencing. It’s vast, and beautiful, and sacred.

 

 

JFK Grave, Eternal Flame

The eternal flame, marking the grave of John F. Kennedy, is actually quite simple and understated.



"Ask not what your country can do for you,
but Ask what you can do for your country..."
near JFK's Eternal Flame

 

 

 

In the wall behind the marker are some of his quotes, carved in the stone. This is my favorite.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Vietnam Memorial Wall

 

 

 

The Vietnam Memorial Wall is most impressive maybe because of its length, full of names of those lost in service in that war.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

Korean War Memorial

On the opposite side of the Lincoln Memorial is this Korean War Memorial. It also has a reflective wall, this one with faces looking out. The wall is alongside a garden of statues, soldiers walking through undergrowth, as you might have seen them in action. I hadn’t been aware of this memorial before the trip. But I saw it in a scene of a TV show (Covert Affairs) after returning home. This was another place I really felt the reverence. Maybe it relates to having a son stationed in Korea this year.

 

  

Iwo Jima Monument

 

The Iwo Jima Monument relates to World War II. It is located just outside the Arlington Cemetery. We saw it just before sunset, which made photography a challenge, but the sky toward the sun was stunning. This photo is taken with back to the sun.

 

  

 

 

 

MLK Monument, viewed from across the tide pool

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial is relatively new. It is along the tide pool, which starts with the Jefferson Memorial, then the FDR Memorial, and then the MLK Memorial, before you get to Lincoln Memorial and reflecting pond.  It’s a long, but not impossible, walk.

 

That's me, standing strong with
Martin Luther King

on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial

 

This stone, in front of the Lincoln Memorial, marks where MLK gave his “I Have a Dream” Speech.

 

 

 

 

 

World War II Memorial

At the end of the reflecting pool, opposite the Lincoln Memorial, and before the grassy hill leading to the Washington Monument, is the relatively new World War II Memorial. It’s a beautiful, huge circle of pillars, identifying each of the states and territories that participated, all surrounding a huge fountain. We arrived as some tour busses arrived. We were after schools had started, so we saw more older visitors than usual. But at this one, there was an unusual number of wheelchairs. And we realized these were WWII vets, coming here to see the memorial that honored them. Some were in tears. And so was I. Being there, with them, was one of my favorite memories of the trip. My dad served in WWII. He passed away several years ago, at age 91. So I’m thinking our few remaining WWII vets are getting near the limit of being able to come.

What was remarkable about this trip to Washington, DC, was how little we heard the news or politics while in our nation’s capital. It was a great respite. And maybe it would do us all good to look to the ideas of our founding, and the people who staked their lives on those ideas, and go resolutely in that direction.

Monuments and Memorials, Part III

This is part III in recounting a trip to Washington, DC, where we encountered people and places worth reverencing. In Part I we went to the Jefferson Memorial. In Part II we covered Lincoln. In Part III we’ll remember George Washington. The next part will cover a few other places not connected to a single individual.

We didn’t manage to go up in the Washington Monument; transportation and timing got in the way, so that will have to wait for another trip. But the Washington Monument was visible from almost every direction. We saw it from the Jefferson Memorial, from the Lincoln Memorial, from Arlington Cemetery, from the White House, and from the Capitol.

 

The Washington Monument,  view from the Lincoln Memorial on the Mall

The clean lines and extraordinary height of the monument make it look modern. But the obelisk is actually an ancient Greek design, a four-sided structure rising to a point. It is the tallest stone structure and tallest obelisk in the world, at 555 feet and 5 ½ inches.

[For you Texans, the San Jacinto Monument, also an obelisk, is 567.31 feet tall. Permission to exceed the height of the Washington Monument was never given; the design was submitted, and they said, “Oh, and we’ll just put a star on top.” It is the star that puts it over height, so we’ll let the claim of tallest obelisk stand with the Washington Monument, even though we know everything’s bigger in Texas.]

 

The monument wasn’t actually built until after Washington’s death in 1799, not even fully designed until the 1830s. But the intention to build a monument was set during his lifetime. So, at least according to one of our tour guides, that is why it is called a monument, while so many other sites are memorials.

The place to get to know the real George Washington is his home, about 16 miles south of the capitol (about 8 miles south of Arlington, VA). We went to Mount Vernon on Thursday, by taxi—my first taxi ever. And if there was nothing else to know about George Washington, we would know from his estate that he was a man who loved civilization. He loved family. He loved God. He loved work, industriousness, and attention to detail.

Mount Vernon, George Washington's home

 

He broke his own horses, and was considered one of the best horsemen of his day. He personally selected breeding sheep to produce the finest wool, which they spun on site. Mount Vernon was a self-sustaining plantation, with many of the same services of a small town. It had a blacksmith, a saddlery and stables and coach house, a paint cellar—meant for the continuing repainting and maintenance of the many buildings. It had orchard lands, woods preserved for hunting, acres for farming, kitchen gardens, flower gardens, and even decorative hedges in a sort of maze.

Washington was one of the wealthiest colonists—and then early Americans. Much of his wealth came into the family with his marriage to the widow Martha Custis. But Mount Vernon was his family home, inherited from his father. The house started much smaller. A second story, as well as right and left wings, were added eventually, and also a kitchen separated by a covered walkway. A formal parlor was the last portion completed, after the presidency, during which there were only a few years to enjoy it before his death.

There's a covered walkway on each side of the house, leading to outbuildings
such as the kitchen. Out back there's a clear panoramic view
of the Potomoc River, pretty much as Washington would have viewed it.

He met Martha while on a military errand, when he was about 26, and found her both beautiful and good company. She had two young children. The daughter died after a prolonged illness, after which Martha began bringing supplies to the soldiers in winter quarters during the Revolutionary War. The son grew up and provided grandchildren that were a special delight to Granddad George Washington. The couple, by all accounts, had a loving and strong marriage relationship. But they did not have any additional children, so he always treated Martha’s offspring as he would his own.

He was a reluctant but extraordinarily brave warrior. It was said of him that he could not be killed. In one battle his clothing was hit with four balls, without any injuries to him. I don’t know if he knew for certain what God was planning for him, but it seems in retrospect that God granted him protection because of a spoken or unspoken promise to lead the new, free nation without any hunger for power.

The weather vane, atop the cupola,
has a dove holding an olive branch,
representing peace--Washington's design request

A young George Washington took it upon himself to develop the habits of good character. He had lists of behavior to practice and follow, until such habits could become natural to him. He also educated himself in a wide variety of subjects. He had a collection of books on landscape design that guided him in designing his own beautiful grounds. He loved and appreciated good music. He purchased paintings, which he displayed gallery style in is formal parlor, particularly favoring landscapes. Also, he read widely and understood the philosophies that went into the founding documents.

When I was growing up, there wasn’t a President’s Day; there were two significant birthdays in February, one for Lincoln, and one for Washington. We didn’t stay home from school to celebrate. We studied these men in school. I think our students could still benefit from such study—even more than one day a year.

But there has been a tendency, in recent decades, to try to point out America’s flaws. Among such things is the dismissal of Washington’s significance because he was a slaveholder. I would not disagree, even after seeing the relatively clean and spacious bunkhouses used for his slaves, that the practice is out of synch with his character. So I’d like to take a minute to talk about that.

Washington grew up in a time and place in which societal stratification was normal. They were subject to royalty, and to the noblemen governors appointed by royalty. Originally, the fight was for that royalty to provide for the rights long guaranteed in English law, rights that were being abrogated. If England’s King George had corrected the abuses, there would not have been a breaking away. Re-read the Declaration of Independence; they had tried all reconciliations first.

The level of civilization reached by the colonists was mixed with this stratification—a southern hemisphere concept on the Spherical Model. In addition, the practice of slavery was not invented by the colonists, but was centuries old in Britain and throughout most of the world. That some people were superior by birth than other people was understood as a given.

It wasn’t until the philosophical understanding of God-given natural rights became the basis for self-rule for the new America that stratification began to be questioned. Early on there were colonies against slavery, for religious reasons, but also for social reasons. The way northern towns were set up was very different from the southern plantations. More entrepreneurial, less brute labor intensive.

George Washington grew up on a southern plantation. So, while we’d like to think that slavery is self-evidently evil, the evil of it dawned slowly—as people began thinking about freedom and equality before the law. In this atmosphere of thought, the blessedly good George Washington came to realize that slavery was wrong. It didn’t fit in a world of freedom and equality.

There were only a few years following his presidency, where he could retire to repose in his family home. During those short years, he re-wrote his will, arranging for all of his slaves to be given their freedom, upon the death of his wife, Martha. He wanted to assure that she was well cared for. However, Martha, knowing what her husband believed, and feeling herself well-enough off, immediately set them free upon his death, rather than waiting.

Even in this I believe George Washington is an example of civilization. He came to see something in his life that didn’t belong in the northern hemisphere zone of freedom, prosperity, and civilization. So he corrected it in his own life, where he had influence to do so. Start building freedom and civilization at home first. And extend out from there, as God expands our circle of influence, so others enjoy the blessings of civilization that we enjoy. That is the pattern for us still, because we're still finding parts of our world that can't cohabit with freedom, prosperity, and civilization.

 

 

Monuments and Memorials, Part II

I’m traveloguing last week’s trip to Washington, DC, going by way of the great people worth revering. Monday was on Thomas Jefferson. Today we honor Abraham Lincoln. I expect there will be at least two more parts to come.

We had a few minutes before our tour trolley arrived Monday morning, so we quickly walked through the Ford Theater—yes, that Ford Theater—which was just across the street from our starting place. They have memorialized the box in which President Lincoln was assassinated, and have a more general museum downstairs as well.

President Lincoln's box at the Ford Theater

 

There was a section of the museum on the various generals of the Civil War, which was interesting. And there was a fair amount on the Lincoln family in the White House. Other than what George Washington went through that winter at Valley Forge, well before his presidency, I don’t know if a US president ever went through a more stressful and precarious time than Lincoln did during his presidency. It is hard to imagine what would have happened without his resolute leadership in getting disagreeing sides to come together. Such circumstances with our current president would have meant total dissolution. God blessed us with Lincoln at that time. Praying that God has prepared such a person for our immediate future. (I wrote about Lincoln, in relation to "Ultimate Right and Wrong," September 14, 2011.)

The Lincoln Memorial is built to look something like a Greek Parthenon.

Lincoln Memorial, approaching from the left side

 

This larger-than-life statue sits looking out.

 

The way the monuments are set up, the Lincoln memorial is at one end. There is the reflecting pond straight ahead of him, toward the Washington Monument, with the White House beyond, and the Capitol building at the far end. There’s a word for such a view—the aspect. It is stunning, the symmetry and beauty of this aspect, referred to as the Washington Mall. It says civilization in every tree and stone in the arrangement.

View from the Lincoln Memorial

 

Lincoln was both brilliant and brief in words. The walls to his left and right have immortalized in stone his Gettysburg Address—which daughter Social Sphere and I memorized as part of her homeschooling—and also his Second Inaugural Address. These are words worth immortalizing, along with a man worth remembering through the ages.

The Gettysburg Address, at the Lincoln Memorial

 

Lincoln's 2nd Inaugural Address, at the Lincoln Memorial

 

 

Monuments and Memorials, Part I

I just spent the week in Washington, DC—my first trip there. We played tourist and took hundreds photos (800, to be exact). The Constitution was signed September 17^th, and we saw the actual document in the National Archives on the 16^th. I geeked out a little.

So, if you’ve ever wondered why some things are called monuments, and others are memorials, here’s the difference: A memorial is for someone after they have died—to remember them. A monument is to honor a person still living. So…the Washington Monument was begun to honor our first US President, George Washington, while he was still alive.

If there was a theme for this trip, it was reverence. As the children in our church sing, “Reverence is more than just quietly sitting.” In our case it involved walking, briskly, about eight miles a day. That is normal for a vacation with Mr. Spherical Model, as the kids can attest. I am stiff and sore, and will take some days to recover. But, there were so many places where it was natural to be reverent.

A sign at Arlington Cemetery says it directly: “Silence and Respect.” During the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the sergeant directed that it is expected we will be silent—and stand—throughout the entirety of the ceremony. There was no listing of “or else” and consequences. There was simply the statement and the expectation. For those who love liberty and civilization, that is sufficient.

There is much I want to share, and I’m not sure how to organize it all yet. For now I’m thinking of going with a main founder per post, more or less in the order we encountered them. Several things they had in common: personal character and decency, honor toward God, skill and learning, and appreciation for all things beautiful and civilized.

 

First we’ll go to the Jefferson Memorial. This great renaissance man of the 18^th Century stands in the center of a circular open building (with museum on the lower floors), an imposing 19 feet tall. He looks toward the Capitol and White House, to keep an eye on things.

 

My personal quote collection already holds a share of Thomas Jefferson’s words, but they were even more striking carved in stone on marble walls. I attempted to photograph them to bring that sense of awe back for myself.

To summarize, Jefferson knew God as his guide, he knew God as the source of our rights and liberties, and he knew learning becomes wisdom under God's guidance.  I’ll share a few of the quotes in photos. These first four are from the walls of the memorial, surrounding him. You'll recognize this first one from the Declaration of Independence, which he had the skill to put into words and to pen.

in the Jefferson Memorial,
from the Declaration of Independence

 

Freedom of religion is essential.

 

Keep the Constitution sacred, and unchanged as much as possible.

 

Liberties are a gift from God.

 

Overhead, around the bottom of the dome, it reads, “I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.” It took four photos to capture it, so I’ll spare you.

Inside the museum, this is above the door; he knew, even then, what we clearly see today.

 

And this is a replica (with some actual artifacts) from his study.

 

God knew when we needed Thomas Jefferson, and prepared him for that particular time. I pray God is preparing another Thomas Jefferson-quality person for our day.

In Part II we'll consider Lincoln, among other notable memorials.