Free Republic

This is my tribute to those who have served and those who continue to serve this great country. World War II Wall of Stars Memorial, Washington DC

As war protesters marched toward Arlington Memorial Bridge en route to the Pentagon yesterday, they were flanked by long lines of military veterans and others who stood in solidarity with U.S. troops and the Bush administration's cause in Iraq. Many booed loudly as the protesters passed, turned their backs to them or yelled, "If you don't like America, get out!" Several thousand vets, some of whom came by bus from New Jersey, car caravans from California or flights from Seattle or Michigan, lined the route from the bridge and down 23rd Street, waving signs such as "War There Or War...

Hope I'm doing this correctly...this is the first thread I've started here! I went to the WW II memorial yesterday for the first time.Words can't describe how powerful an experience it was.The weather was poor,so there weren't too many people there,but I was overcome with a sense of awe and gratitude while there. At one point,I saw an older man who looked like he might be a WW II Vet,approached him,and he told me that he was.At that point,I asked if I could shake his hand. He was clearly moved by his presence there,for obvious reasons.As I was leaving,all I...

I am trying to locate or identify the T.V. program I saw a couple of months ago that Tim Russert moderated or was the commentator on the construction of the WW-II Memorial. It was a very comprehensive picture of the controversy, information about the architect, showing various stages of the construction, how construction took place, etc. I cannot remember if I saw the program on the History Channel, PBS, or A&E or something else and I cannot locate any information through a search. I would like to buy the CD. There are numerous CD's available but I cannot be sure...

A campaign is underway to have God represented on the new World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. "In this beautiful memorial ... there is not one reference to God, not one reference to prayer, not one reference to faith, not one reference to religion," Rev. Patrick Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition said this week in launching the national effort. "I do not think that we are stretching history to say that one of the critical factors in winning the war against Germany and Japan was the collective faith of our people and our leaders," Mahoney said. The American...

The Washington Timeswww.washingtontimes.com The war waged withinBy Alvin WilliamsPublished July 7, 2004 African-American World War II veterans who visit the new WWII Memorial in Washington will share a special recollection unique to their wartime experience.     In addition to their experiences on the front line facing the enemies without, they will also reflect on their experiences with more abstract opponents within -- segregation and discrimination.     Despite not being afforded many of the rights at home for which they were fighting abroad, many African-American soldiers gave their lives in service to their country. The war they waged daily was both internal and...

Gang - The recently "unveiled" WWII Monument, in Washington, is grand. Something extremely important was INTENTIONALLY left out. I thank Joyce for sending this. I have researched it, and this is true, sadly. I am writing my Congressman, immediately! Had to pass this along as an example of what is happening in today's word. Today I went to visit the new World War II Memorial in Washington, DC. I got an unexpected history lesson. Since I'm a baby boomer, I was one of the youngest in the crowd. Most were the age of my parents, veterans of "the greatest war"...

Date: Mon, 7 Jun 2004 17:27:41 -0400 Subject: Fw: in the event you visit the WW II memorial sad to change history ----- Original Message ----- Sent: Monday, June 07, 2004 12:40 PM Subject: Fw: in the event you visit the WW II memorial sad to change history Received this from a friend. Hard to believe this happened!! -------Original Message------- Subject: WWII - a date which will live in infamy > To All, > > Forwarded by a cousin and even on Memorials we are doing editing. How > sad that on a memorial to our WW II vets people...

LYN'S PAGE e-mail: franklynnof@cs.com It turns out that Bob Dole, P. X. Kelly and all the other folk who has something to do with the building of the World War II memorial owe an explanation and an apology to the American people. It turns out that they edited, or approved the editing of President’s Roosevelt’s talk to the nation on Dec. 8, 1941, announcing the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor to make it politically correct. They chopped off the last four words. No big deal, you say. Yes it is a big deal. They are not idle words; they are...

This week we formally dedicated the World War II Memorial on the Mall in Washington, D.C. The center of the Memorial is a reflecting pool in front of a curved wall on which there are 4,050 golden stars, each of them representing one hundred Americans who gave the last full measure of devotion in that conflict. This was the long-delayed memorial for the 16 million Americans who served in that conflict, only a quarter of whom are still alive. A substantial number of those were in attendance at the dedication. Of course, World War II was not the war in...

This Memorial Day weekend was the most serious look at the service by members of the military in my memory - or perhaps ever. The strange fact is that there was no mention of Muslims in the U.S. military during WW II. The dedication of the WW II Memorial on Saturday was alternatively elaborate, somber or thankful to the millions of military veterans. It was surely the largest ever gathering of Medal of Honor recipients and the rapidly declining number of WW II veterans. On Sunday evening, the 90 minute musical program was tasteful and superb. During the speeches in...

WASHINGTON -- "At this place, at this Memorial, we acknowledge a debt of long-standing to an entire generation of Americans: those who died; those who fought and worked and grieved and went on. They saved our country, and thereby saved the liberty of mankind. And now I ask every man and woman who saw and lived World War II -- every member of that generation -- to please rise as you are able, and receive the thanks of our great nation." So said President George W. Bush at the dedication of the World War II Memorial last weekend in the nation's...

WASHINGTON -- ``Today the guns are silent. ... The entire world is quietly at peace.'' So said Douglas MacArthur in September 1945. Last week, seeing that quotation, now inscribed in stone at the new World War II Memorial in Washington, I was struck, touched, by its optimism. And transience. The end of the war brought peace to Germany and Japan, which had been reduced to rubble. But that was the peace of the grave. There was no peace in Greece or China, where guerrilla war continued through the 1940s. There was tremendous civil unrest in France where communist parties came...

At about 9 PM on Memorial Day I visited the WW II Memorial for the first time. What a beautiful place. It's huge, very dignified, beautiful and fits in well--while being different from, the other monuments on the Mall. The center piece is a huge fountain, bigger in size I think, than any other in DC. There are two towers, one for the Pacific Theater, the other for the European Theater at either end of the oval fountain area. Each tower has 4 bronze columns within, topped by 4 large eagles, together holding a giant laurel wreath--very awe-inspiring. I'd like...

CBS "60 Minutes" star Mike Wallace defended his decision last night to use a Washington, D.C. World War II memorial event that both he and USA Today founder Al Neuharth attended on Friday to bash President Bush as unfit to be commander-in-chief. "It seemed to both to Neuharth and to me that it was the right venue [to do this] because we talked about it ahead of time," Wallace told Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly. "It was a venue in which we are celebrating a war in which so many people died. But they died in the service of...

By David Yeagley FrontPageMagazine.com | June 1, 2004 I’m still an American Indian patriot. Even after watching CNN’s 90 minute program featuring the May 29 dedications of the new National WWII Memorial in Washington, D.C.,

It was supposed to be an event where World War II-era journalists could swap war stories and bask in the glory of the soon-to-be christened WWII memorial on Washington, D.C.'s mall. But it didn't take long for CBS "60 Minutes" star Mike Wallace and USA Today founder Al Neuharth, who had been invited to address the crowd, to turn Friday's WWII reminiscence into bash-Bush rally. Wallace began innocently enough, telling the crowd that in WWII, "We knew what we were fighting for. We knew how important it was. We loved our country. We loved our commander-in-chief. "And when Pearl...

It was a perfect Washington evening, warm with just a hint of the summer to come, a tiny crescent of a moon climbing into the eastern sky to replace the sun sinking behind a grove of elms. The Washington Monument pointing toward the clouds reminded the men, women and children out for a stroll that in America, troubled though we are in the midst of a war that many are reluctant to acknowledge as war, the sky is still the only limit to the nation's aspirations. Across the Mall, the Lincoln Memorial loomed with elegant gravitas, testifying that the government...

I went to the mall in DC last Saturday evening for the dedication of the WWII memorial. The crowds were thinning at sunset so it was easy to get in and out of town. The mall was full of families spread across the generations and vets of all ages. There were straight laced Korean War vets, Viet Nam era bikers, wild haired grey beards and younger guys who faced fire in places like Panama Beirut Somalia Bosnia. There were bright eyed young men who'd just seen Iraq and Afghanistan and the Methuselah’s of WW II... the guys who did things...

SIERRA VISTA - Some former soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen of what has been called "the greatest generation" sat in the sun, while others were under the shade of trees. But they all were in the spotlight Saturday. More than two dozen were honored guests at the unveiling of the World War Two Memorial Dedication postage stamp, Sierra Vista's scaled-down version of the large memorial in Washington, D.C. The stamp's design incorporated part of the memorial in the nation's capital. For Archie Campbell, the memorial speaks to the nation about what those who served during World War II...

Some times Freepers life can be so grand, I had the honor today to meet a true American Hero. I don't know his name, but today in a 7-11 in Silver Spring Maryland(the bath tub of far leftwingers here in DC) several of us all stopped to help a vet who had come here to Washington DC and was lost, after giving him directions I watch as many hands went out to thank the old vet(mine included)for his service. The clerk who was from Africa even agreed with me, when I said "There goes a real American hero, those guys...

Today President Bush spoke at the opening ceremony of the WWII Memorial on the Mall in Washington D.C. ENJOY YOUR VIST TO SANITY ISLAND

Inspiring Words Grace World War II Memorial Walls By Rudi WilliamsAmerican Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, May 28, 2004 – Inspirational tributes and poignant quotations from famous, important military and civilian figures are inscribed into the walls around the National World War II Memorial. A D-Day, June 6, 1944, remark by Army Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, who later was elected president of the United States. Photo by Rudi Williams(Click photo for screen-resolution image); high-resolution image available. The memorial's announcement stone reads, "Here in the presence of Washington and Lincoln, one the 18th century father and the other the 19th century...

Remarks by the President at National World War II Memorial Dedication National World War II MemorialWashington, D.C.      World War II Memorial Page 3:09 P.M. EDT THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all very much. I'm honored to join with President Clinton, President Bush, Senator Dole and other distinguished guests on this day of remembrance and celebration. And, General Kelley, here in the company of the generation that won the war, I proudly accept the World War II Memorial on behalf of the people of the United States of America. (Applause.) Raising up this Memorial took skill and vision and patience. Now the...

Resident historian Steve Gillon and WWII veteran and former Army Ranger Len Lomell join host Josh Binswanger as we transmit live from the dedication in Washington of the National World War II Memorial, which lies between the Washington and Lincoln Monuments. Former Senator Bob Dole, a WWII veteran and Chairman of the WWII Memorial Campaign, will speak, as well as President Bush. ON between 2 and 3:30pm this afternoon. History Channel also on CSPAN at 2pm.

WASHINGTON - The big wall of stars at the National World War II Memorial struck a nerve with George McKinney. The wall has 4,000 gold stars, each representing about 100 U.S. soldiers killed in the war. McKinney, an Army veteran, said he knew so many people - friends and relatives - killed in the war that they would account for an entire star. He got choked up as recalled them. "I lost a brother," he said as a few tears rolled down his cheek. His older brother Cecil died when his plane crashed during a training flight. Joyce Siler, another...

    ~ MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND MUSIC CELEBRATION ~ Please join us in the Canteen in our musical tribute and celebration to our Veterans, Active Duty, and their families. Please click on all the icons for music and lyrics to each song. (Not all songs will have lyrical links.) Thank you! God Bless each of you. Have a safe and fun weekend. (Songs will be removed Tuesday!) * WARNING* "God" is mentioned quite frequently in many of our Patriotic songs below. If you have problems with these lyrics, may He feel justified to light a fire under thy ass...

As they did six decades ago, when they went to war as youthful soldiers, a company of aging San Antonio-area veterans traveled by train this week to an encounter with history. The party departed San Antonio on Tuesday and made its way across the South, up the eastern seaboard, covering the 1,724-mile route in the comfort of restored railroad cars. The group will join thousands of comrades Saturday for the dedication of the National World War II Memorial in Washington. The nostalgic train trip evoked the memory of a boozy victory ride home in 1945 for Bill Oglesby. "It was...

<p>WASHINGTON -- Those of us who publicly opposed placing the World War II Memorial on the Mall in Washington argued that doing so was a prescription for failure. If the memorial were to respect the sight lines, symmetries and elegance of the Mall, it would be too small to do justice to the grandeur of the Second World War. And if the memorial were large enough to reflect the majesty of its subject, it would overpower and ruin the delicate harmonies of the Mall.</p>

Those of us who publicly opposed placing the National World War II Memorial on the Mall in Washington argued that doing so was a prescription for failure. If the memorial were to respect the sight lines, symmetries and elegance of the Mall, it would be too small to do justice to the grandeur of the Second World War. And if the memorial were large enough to reflect the majesty of its subject, it would overpower and ruin the delicate harmonies of the Mall. The World War II memorial has just opened, and it is indeed a failure. The good news...

'Easy Company' Veteran to Accompany Kerry to WWII Memorial Opening 5/26/2004 10:29:00 AM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: National and Assignment desks, Political Reporter Contact: Allison Dobson of John Kerry for President, 202-712-3000 http://www.johnkerry.com WASHINGTON, May 26 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Saturday May 29, Joseph Lesniewski, one of the original "Band of Brothers" from the "Easy Company" of the 101st Airborne Division will join presidential candidate John Kerry at the official opening of the WWII memorial. A member of the "Greatest Generation," like Kerry's own father, Lesniewski served the United States in WWII. Lesniewski, a decorated war hero, is one of the 18...

On Memorial Day Weekend 2004, the National World War II Memorial will be dedicated in Washington, D.C., to honor all veterans of the war, citizens on the home front, and the nation at large. Dedication Information Dedication of the National WWII Memorial Coinciding with the dedication will be Tribute to a Generation: National World War II Reunion, a major four-day event that will take place on the National Mall at a series of tented pavilions and stages. The Reunion is free and open to the public.On the National Mall of the United States 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., May...

WASHINGTON — Sixty years after World War II ended, Colleen Cody of San Antonio made the trek to the National Mall last month for the opening of the memorial honoring veterans for their service. "For a lot of us who are still around, we are very proud," said Cody, who was still in high school when her two brothers packed up and headed off to the Navy and the war to stop imperialist Japan. It was a touching moment for Cody, who walked along the marble shrine to the 400,000 people who lost their lives defending freedom and the 16...

There will be a special program for the WWII Memorial Dedication at Veteran's Park in Sierra Vista, AZ. The program starts at 10:00 A.M. at the Band Shell and this Memorial Dedication is hosted by the local Military Order of the Purple Heart. It is conjunction with the USPS, the city and Ft. Huachuca. As of this posting this is the only site in Arizona. The program will be honoring Fort Huachuca and the roll it had in training the troops of the 92nd and 93rd Divisions for their combat rolls in the South Pacific, Africa, and Europe during WWII....

Sitting Chiefs Memorialized, Too Presidents Who Dedicate Monuments Often Get Names Engraved George W. Bush recently joined a special group of U.S. presidents -- those whose names will forever be part of Washington's monumental landscape. To belong to this club, a good sense of timing is required. In the case of the newly opened National World War II Memorial, Bill Clinton's timing was off. He signed the 1993 legislation authorizing the memorial and presided at both the site's dedication in 1995 and the groundbreaking in 2000. But his name is nowhere on the completed memorial, while Bush's is engraved on...

<p>As the National World War II Memorial prepares to open, the secretary of State tells how these public spaces help everyone better understand what America is all about.</p> <p>"Paying homage to the fallen holds a deeply personal meaning for me." Every Memorial Day, my sister, Marilyn, and I would put on our Sunday best and accompany our parents to Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx to visit the graves of family members. Like all kids, my sister and I were happy to have the day off from school, and I can't say we were in a solemn frame of mind. But taking part in that annual rite of remembrance gave me my first sense of the importance of honoring those who have gone before.</p>

<p>Every Memorial Day, my sister, Marilyn, and I would put on our Sunday best and accompany our parents to Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx to visit the graves of family members. Like all kids, my sister and I were happy to have the day off from school, and I can't say we were in a solemn frame of mind. But taking part in that annual rite of remembrance gave me my first sense of the importance of honoring those who have gone before.</p>

WASHINGTON - A national monument to the 16 million U.S. men and women who served during World War II opened to the public Thursday, giving veterans of that era a sense of recognition some say was long overdue but well worth the wait. "It is beautiful," declared World War II veteran and former Marine George Lynch. "To see this memorial after all these years is absolutely marvelous." The granite and bronze monument features waterfalls, fountains, and a curved wall bedecked with gold stars to represent the more than 400,000 who gave their lives in the war. On its opening day,...

WASHINGTON — A circle of World War II veterans prayed Tuesday at the long-awaited monument to their generation's service. "Quietly awesome," said Sen. John Warner (R-Va.), describing the National World War II Memorial with words that also apply to the men and women who inspired the granite and bronze tribute. Warner and nine other members of Congress who served in the Second World War toured the site on the national Mall between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. The 7.4-acre monument officially opens Memorial Day weekend more than a decade after it was proposed. With World War II vets...

Butler County resident Nathan DeSantis tried to enlist in the Marines the day after Pearl Harbor but flunked his physical because he lacked opposing molars. Sixty-five years later, he thinks he's being overlooked again. DeSantis is one of 243,000 Americans who served during World War II in the Merchant Marine, a group that suffered proportionally heavier losses than any other military branch. The sacrifice, DeSantis said, makes Merchant Marines worthy of equal billing with the Army, Navy, Marines, Army Air Corps and the Coast Guard on a new World War II memorial planned in Butler. Not everyone agrees.

World War II Memorial to Open Last Week of April By Sgt. 1st Class Doug Sample, USA American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, April 15, 2004 -- It's been a long time coming -- some 59 years after the war -- but soon visitors wandering about the National Mall here will see the new memorial dedicated to the nation's World War II veterans. The World War II memorial on the National Mall in Washington will be dedicated May 29, but will be ready for opening at the end of April. Artist rendering by Joe McKendry.(Click photo for screen-resolution image); high-resolution...

For the fighters of World War II, a new monument is a chance to tell their stories - and to recall those who gave their lives. Old friends sat around a long barroom table at American Legion Post 72 in Mount Carmel one afternoon last week, laughing and swapping well-worn yarns, tales from the decades-old event that bound them together for life: World War II. Eleven men and one woman, all in their late 70s and 80s, who share a memory of a time long ago when, as wide-eyed youth, they were called on to serve their country and save...

Online Registry for World War II Veterans Goes Live on National WWII Memorial Web Site 7/3/03 1:00:00 PM To: National Desk Contact: Mike Conley of the American Battle Monuments Commission, 703-696-6778; 571-216-6115 (cell); (additional contacts listed below) web: http://www.WWIImemorial.com WASHINGTON, July 3 /U.S. Newswire/ -- At a time when fewer than one in ten adults recognize that 16 million Americans served in uniform during the Second World War, the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) today introduced a World War II Registry online to document the names of those who participated in history's largest and most devastating war. The Registry...

On the Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend 2004, the National World War II Memorial will be officially dedicated. The memorial, which is in its final stages of construction, is located at the Rainbow Pool Site on the central access of the National Mall in Washington, DC. "Construction on the memorial began in September 2001," said Betsy Glick, director of communications for the American Battle Monuments Commission, the organization Congress authorized to supervise and conduct construction on the monument. "Most of the larger, structural elements are already in place. We expect the project to be totally completed by March or April...

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- For Tom Proctor, there could be no better day than Sunday to break ground for Illinois' memorial to the veterans of World War II. Exactly 62 years earlier, Proctor was sitting down to breakfast at Pearl Harbor when his anti-aircraft weapons unit was called out. The Japanese had attacked, and America was suddenly fighting in World War II. "All those men who were killed, and the men who received injuries on that day and are suffering from it, they've been forgotten, and damn it, I don't like that a bit," the Springfield resident said. "They say it's...

WASHINGTON - Tears and pride mix as Navy veteran Ted Burke talks about the National World War II Memorial and its significance as a reminder of the sacrifices he and millions of others made. Recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, the 83-year-old former torpedoman has made it his life's goal to make it to the Memorial Day weekend dedication on the National Mall. "I hope and pray to the good Lord I'll be there," said Burke of Rehoboth Beach, Del., a former commander of the American Legion Department of the District of Columbia. His daughter, Teddy Burke, choked back tears and...

Do we need a WWII memorial