The Wall

Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Washington Monument

I haven't been out with my camera much in the last week or so. Today's picture is taken from my archives and is one that I didn't post when I took it earlier this year. This is the Vietnam Veterans Memorial with the Washington Monument in the background. I love this memorial for a variety of reasons, but what I appreciate most is its power to make grown men cry and the way it has quietly healed a nation.

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential

Grateful

Grandpa Bang

Today is Veteran's Day in the United States and Remembrance Day in Australia and Canada. (The U.K. observed the same on Sunday.) This is a picture of my grandfather, Eldon L. Bangerter, who served in Europe during World War II. I use to call Grandpa Bang every Veteran's Day to thank him for his service and sacrifice. He passed away in 2006, so this is the best I can do now.

To all of our men and women in uniform, past and present, thank you for standing on the front lines and ensuring our domestic tranquility. I hope one day we won't require your services because we'll live in peace and harmony, but until then, I am grateful. Thank you.

Two Things Challenge: Big / Little

Gold Star Dad Chopper: Honoring our fallen warriors

This week's Two Things Challenge was Big / Little. Oddly, I had a hard time finding stuff to photograph for this one. I kept hoping to see someone out walking a ginormous dog and a rat-on-a-rope teeny, tiny dog. I thought about asking a friend if I could take pictures of her baby's hand in her hand, but then we never got together. Then yesterday, I drove past a car dealership that sells Mini Coopers and thought a Cooper and Hummer would be perfect, but Tash beat to that one!

Instead, I went with motorcycles. Real and pretend. Yesterday, I went to the Marine Corps Marathon Health & Fitness Expo at the D.C. Armory. That's where I saw this custom chopper from Gold Star Dads. For those who don't know, Gold Star families are those who have lost a son or daughter in war. This motorcycle was crafted in memory of the young men and women in our country who have given their lives, justly or unjustly (depending on how you feel about our military involvement in other countries), in wars and conflicts.

Smaller versions of the real thing:
Hallmark Christmas decorations of Harley-Davidson motorcycles

Later, I was out in Fairfax County and stopped at the local Hallmark card store in Kamp Washington. Imagine my delight when I saw motorcycles hanging among the Christmas ornaments on sale. (What a Harley-Davidson has to do with the birth of Christ I have no clue, but work with me here.) The larger of the two Harley ornaments was about three inches long, while the smallest was about an inch.

So there you have it. A big chopper honoring our fallen warriors and two little choppers honoring I'm-not-sure-what!

Snoopy and his little crew in their canoe

But wait! There's more. I also took a picture of a Snoopy ornament that just tickled my funny bone. Big Snoopy and his little yellow friends. (As for the connection between Snoopy, Woodstock, and Christmas--that's totally valid. But Harley's and Jesus? That's just a bit of a disconnect for me.)

P.S. I also took pictures at Borders Books & Music for this week's theme, but had a hard time choosing which to post. Come back tomorrow and see my other Big / Little pictures.

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 10/08

Honor

The World War II Memorial on the National Mall with the Lincoln Memorial to the west.

Today is Veteran's Day in the United States--the day we honor the men and women of our Armed Forces who serve and protect our country.* Regardless of our current military actions in parts of the world we shouldn't be in (and regardless of how you feel about the war in Iraq), today is the day to thank those who put their lives on the line to ensure our domestic tranquility and secure peace.

On this Veteran's Day, I pay tribute to my late grandfather, who served in World War II with the U.S. Army. He sacrifice, along with millions of others, is memorialized here at the World War II Memorial on the National Mall. As you approach the memorial from the east side across from the Washington Monument and facing the Lincoln Memorial to the west, you read these words carved in granite:

Here, in the presence of Washington and Lincoln, one the eighteenth century father, the other the nineteenth century preserver of our nation, we honor those twentieth century Americans who took up the struggle during the Second World War and made the sacrifices to perpetuate the gift our forefathers entrusted to us: a nation conceived in liberty and justice.

* In Australia and Canada, it's Remembrance Day, Remembrance Sunday in Great Britain, Armistice in France, and Wapenstilstandsdag in Belgium. All of these commemorations mark the day and hour in 1918--November the 11th at 11:00 a.m.--when the guns of World War I fell silent on the Western Front.

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 11/07