Today is Memorial Day and I always like to post something here for the readers because this particular holiday is much more than sitting back to enjoy some cold ones and enjoy a few BBQ burgers. It’s a day where we should also reflect on those who served in the US Armed Forces and paid the ultimate price for our freedom. For this year’s reflection I simply shared some images of the red, white and blue. Of course this first one was displayed in paint on the front window of a Bay Ridge Brooklyn diner called Hinsch’s.
This next one was observed on Fifth Avennue in Manhattan while I adventured on some musical that was taking place in our fair Metropolis. I liked how it was flying and now you get to see it as well.
Now let’s go a little bit smaller with a display of flags that were for sale at the local hardware store. It was from Seymour’s Hardware (not its name but how we know it all these years). These flags are great at parades honoring the soldiers and of course on the graves of those that we have lost.
A couple of years ago, I wrote a very personal Memorial Day reflection which focused on my Grandmother’s youngest brother. This year I had planned on sharing excerpts from letters that he had written to home but I was not finding a whole lot of “war talk” going on. I’ll examine them a little closer and do something with them for a future reflection and instead this year I rolled back my photographers clock to a business trip I took to Washington, DC I guess in 1998. On the trip we did some sight seeing and the first stop for you all is the Tomb Of The Unknowns. It’s always best to be absolutely quiet in this area so set those cell phones to vibrate once you have finished using it to take photos.
I had lucked out and caught the Changing Of The Guard and these soldiers are from the Army’s 3rd Infantry Regiment. These Sentinels are considered among the highest ranked honor to be a part of in the Armed Forces.
My next stop would be the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial Wall and some of the statues that are marching alongside it. This was a very impacting memorial to say the least and my third shot of this shows you only a small section of it. Back in 1998 I was using a little Vivitar snappy camera and nothing super professional like I carry around these days. Still this did the trick and that is all that matters.
This statue is called “Three Soldiers” and was done by Frederick Hart. The three soldiers represent an African American, White American and Hispanic American and it was installed in 1984. It’s not far from the wall but will not take away from your respectful viewing of that structure.
I felt this shot of the Arlington National Cemetery was the best to close up with as it is the impacting reminder of the sacrifice these men and women paid for our country. When I took this I remembered feeling creepy in doing so but now with the wild world of Social media its very likely a commonly occurring thing. Photos are sure fine but let’s keep it super respectful. Thank you to all of our fighting forces who gave their all for us. You are never forgotten.
You can learn more about the memorials discussed in this post via their Wikipedia entries, I’ve linked them all below and since I mentioned the personal narrative at the beginning of this one, I am sharing that again with you HERE.
Arlington National Cemetary: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arlington_National_Cemetery
Tomb Of The Unknowns: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomb_of_the_Unknowns
Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial Wall: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_Veterans_Memorial_Wall