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Ping for some pictures of the Dedication Ceremony and a quick Report. Sorry for the delay - computer crash and other things got in the way ____________________________________________________ Happy Birthday Marines and to you Vets out there, May your Day be filled with "Thank You for your service".

Absolutely gorgeous day for the Marine Corps Museum dedication!!

While the waiting for the buses to load was cumbersome, the event was picture perfect as you'll see from [Mrs] Trooprally's great pictures. Since we could not really move around a lot during the dedication, the pics were of one of the 5 really-really big screens.

We arrived early at the Pentagon parking lot and got to the Museum by 10 AM. But not after wondering if the rush hour drivers were hating us for closing their HOV lanes. Even with the government off today, traffic was backed up. Our daughter and her husband were also in that traffic. One car tried to use the HOV lanes. As they passed our buses going in the opposite direction, a police car was in hot pursuit.

Legionnaire Halsey, a regular at the Olney, MD FReep and Trustee of the Museum, said there were about 11,000 tickets handed out for the Dedication. I soon learned that acknowledging the Marines there and wishing them a Happy Birthday would be fruitless. Marines were every where. To clear up a misconception, I have not had the privledge to serve our Country, but [Mrs] T has served in the Army and our family has Marine family members going back to Vietnam to active duty now.

There were 5 large screens that showed mostly Marine boot camp short movies. Boot Camp is the common theme that binds all Marines. Other short movies included some Iraq clips, and the history of the Marine Corps.

The static displays under the big tent were terrific. There was a little of everything, from heavy equipment to personal chemical/biological equipment to period displays. Too dark inside and too many people to get good shots of it.

The President flew to the Quantico Base and then drove into the Museum. He received a standing ovation coming in and then when leaving the dedication. He was also honored with a 21 cannon salute.

The dedication of the Memorial Walk was Saturday. While we got some pictures of the Walk, hopefully someone will be attending this event and post a report.

We took some pictures of the Walk which is to the left of the Museum.

The President also told everyone that Cpl. Jason Dunham, KIA Iraq, will receive the Medal of Honor. His parents were there and they got a standing ovation.

Hopefully this short report will allow you to make sense of the total file of Dedication pictures. Some pictures are in this post just to give you a thumb nail idea of the dedication.

BELOW LEFT: Entrance to Museum taken from our moving bus. BELOW RIGHT: Flags as you drive up to the parking area.

BELOW TOP: Sun glinting off the symbolic Iwo Jima flag pole. See Wolverine's superimposed picture of Iwo Jima Flag Raising. BELOW BOTTOM: Main Entrance to Museum.

BELOW LEFT: President flying to Quantico. Tents at bottom of picture hold the ststic displays. We missed the Marine's fly over. The jets flew over before we knew they were there. BELOW RIGHT: President walking up to podium as shown on big screens.

BELOW LEFT: President's 21 cannon salute. BELOW RIGHT: President's motorcade leaving ceremony.

BELOW TOP: Center piece of Memorial Walk. BELOW BOTTOM: Picture of random Bricks that line the walk.

BELOW LEFT: Period ambulance. BELOW RIGHT: Period clothing.