Posted on 05/31/2004 4:18:21 PM PDT by SandRat
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 of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth.
The breeze seemed to echo the promise of Martin Luther King, who once stood on those steps to speak about his dream.
Now these two great national landmarks are linked in vision and sanctity by a new memorial, dedicated this Memorial Day weekend to the men and women of a generation, now swiftly fading into history, who saved civilization over four years of war six decades ago.
The pillars and pavilions, shooting fountains and waterfalls, granite blocks and bronze reliefs envelop a public space that invites reflection and action, stillness and a rush of excitement.
We were engulfed in the buzz of children's voices delighting in an outing at the end of a day, punctuating the lowered voices of elderly men exchanging memories of a time long ago, in places far away where they couldn't be sure they would ever see home again.
An elderly black man stood before the word "Remagen," carved in stone, and a tear trickled down a leathered cheek as he spoke softly of comrades who died at a bridge too far in March 1945.
Nearby, a Guatemalan family of four, in their new country for only five years, spoke of their joy of living in the United States.
Teenagers from Ohio, on their senior trip to the nation's capital, pointed to a flock of birds flying overhead and remarked they could be a squadron of warplanes.
This no ordinary memorial was 17 years in the making, overcoming the objections of preservationists determined that not a single blade of grass would be disturbed on the Mall, of "Enfantistas" who brooked no changes in the original plan of the Mall by Pierre L'Enfant, of the minimalists who object to its monumental celebration of the veterans of World War II.
It is as American as apple pie, born of the restless spirit of the '40s, a product of highbrow esthetics and lowbrow sensibilities, of uptown sophistication and downtown appreciation of simple pleasures.
There was no early pressure for a memorial by veterans returning from the war. The men who won the war came home to an appreciative public who gave them parades and respect for sacrifice.
Many of them were eager to take advantage of the GI Bill and concentrated on getting an education and creating families. They were determined to get ahead and had no interest in looking back at either the heroism or the horrors of war.
But as national monuments went up to honor veterans from Korea and Vietnam, it became clear a monumental piece of the history of the 20th century was missing in action.
Critics complain that the inscriptions have too many words, but the words inspire.
The greatest generation did not live by abstractions, nor did it rely on visual images alone to convey an idea. A simple sentence chiseled in granite speaks to a powerful idea: "Here we mark the price of freedom."
Nearby is a wall laced with 4,000 sculpted gold stars, each commemorating a hundred of the 400,000 Americans who gave their lives so that this nation may live. God bless them all.
° Suzanne Fields is a columnist for The Washington Times, 3600 New York Ave., Washington, DC 20002; e-mail: sfields1000@aol.com.
It's about the heck time that a Memorial for the "The Greatest Generation" finds a place in Washington D.C. 60 yrs is just too long...
I would love to go back to D.C. and see the Memorial..someday I will.
Some day so will I. I am a charter member of the people who made this memorial happen. My parents are memorialized there. I will go there some day to say thanks even though I can go to their graves a lot easier. I want to see this place.
That will tear you up, I guarantee you that.
It will take some special mental work to go to both places in one day. I'm not sure I can do that! But if we get to Washington some day, I will try.
Seeing a lot of it on television this past few days, I'd have to disagree with him; I like it....not enough to want to go Washington D.C. of course, but I like it.
Semper Fi!
The WWII vets seemed to love it. And what is more important than that?
"...as he spoke softly of comrades who died at a bridge too far in March 1945."
The "bridge too far" was Arnhem in Sept '44, Suzanne.
Remagen was a stroke of good fortune.
The WWII memorial is magnificent, but it took way,way way too long. So many vets never lived to see it.
Not a thing...not a damn thing!
Along this line, if any FReepers want to see the little Powerpoint thing I put together today after our local Memorial, Freepmail me and I'll pop it off....warning, it's rudimentary, but not too shabby; I've had the program since the first of the month and haven't got all the bells and whistles dialed in yet. There are some nice shots in there, though......
Freepmail me and turn the volume up just a tad.
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