Time Machine Travelogue Ten

This One May Make You Cry

Many have sacrificed for our freedom

The time machine started as just a small singularity.  The problem was increasing the size of the worm hole large enough to send something back in time.  As a first step you need to send a small mechanical device back in time.  Then it, it hates it when I call it it, sends singularity back at the speed of light to home.  Because of Einstein's Time Dilation the front of the worm hole is only a few seconds however the original point time is different.  This allows me to then go back in time to the point in time at the given coordinates.  So returning to Washington D. C. only meant leaving the robot behind.  So we are going visit some of the most moving sites in our nations history.  So grab a handkerchief or some tissue, you may cry.  I know I will.  Here comes our opening, and away we fly.

There are many memorials in Washington D.C.  No trip could be complete unless you visit these.  We got to see many of these sites and memorials.  As a child of the Sixties, seeing the Viet Nam Veterans Memorial was especially emotional and moving.  No matter what you thought about the war whether you were for it or against it, you need to see that black gash ripping through the landscape.  It tore our country apart.  Unlike today the war touched nearly every family.  Males 18 years old and older were subjected to the Draft.  The Draft impacted poor families, Black families, and Hispanic families the most.  Some men and 18 year olds escaped through deferments.  For a while college students got deferments.  Friends and families were interrupted by the War. We all had friends who were drafted or enlisted to allow them to choose there service.  We all read in the papers or  heard from friends that someone we knew, "Gave the last full measure of devotion."  The architect May Lin's design helped honor the Viet Nam Veterans and heal a nations wounds with her design.  There are ghosts in the wall.  As you step toward it, the reflection is like your loved one moving toward you.  It lists the names of those 58,000 plus Americans who lost their lives.  It starts out small and grows.  Many people make crayon rubbings of the names of their hero.  Also people leave articles behind which archived.  Medals, Service Ribbons, and even old and worn jungle boots.  Tears are also left behind but they evaporate and rejoin the Earth's water cycle.  You will be touched again just step outside when it rains and snows.

Baby Boomers faced Hell

It should have stopped before we reached 58,000 +

Ghost in the Wall

How many friends did you lose?

They were decorated even in death as the living
pass their medals on to those who are never coming home.

 The eighth grade students are not the most sensitive to the gravity of the deaths of people who died in war.  But they have because of history class the knowledge our Sixteenth President, Abraham Lincoln. They were refurbishing the Fords Theater  the site of the April 15, 1865 assassination of the President.  We did get to go to the house across the street were he was taken and survived his last time on Earth. This made a connection with our textbooks and reality of the actual events of history of our country.  Mix that with a visit to the Lincoln Memorial and you understand his importance.  The Memorial is huge as you walk up the steps seeing Abraham Lincoln seated there with some of his most famous quotes is inspirational.

President Lincoln was Assassinated here at the Ford's Theater

He was taken here for medical care.

Let us not forget that madmen cheat "We the People" out of our government. 
"A government of the people, by the people and for the people shall not 
perish from the Earth." A. Lincoln

This room saw the death of a President and a great man.

Many schools do field trips to the Lincoln Memorial

The greatness of mankind found in one man.

By the time you get to eighth grade, you should know that Abraham Lincoln was the President who preserved to Union. There was an attempt to divide the United States by some states in the South seceding to form their country, the Confederate States of America. Because of this action a Civil War broke out between the two different factions.   In order to preserve the Union, Abraham Lincoln called up the Union Army. The South who started the war picked as their leader of their forces a legendary general, Robert E. Lee. The Lee family had an estate across the Potomac River from Washington D.C.  The land surrounding this estate became Arlington National Cemetery. Many of our hero and soldiers are buried or interned here. You know you are on Holy Ground when you see the rows of grave markers.  Also there is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

They fought for you and me.

The former Lee estate

I hope they found peace.

How can you not be moved?

We children of the Sixties suffered through other tragedies. We had to endure the killing of our dreams. The first was when I was a freshmen in high school.  It was a nice day on November 22, 1963. Then during the early morning passing period, we got the news.  Our President John F, Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. It was the first punch of the combination that sent us reeling.   It was profoundly sad. Later he was buried at Arlington national Cemetery. They placed an Eternal Flame on the grave site to memorialize the first President born in the Twentieth Century. Later his wife   Jacquelyn was also buried at the sight.  That definitely was a gut punch.

Jackie Kennedy inspired American women as First Lady.

I still remember that awful day.

A memory recalled in the fleeting dance of the Eternal Flame.

The second was the assassination of the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King.  I was in Seattle for spring break when it occurred.  They had a huge march to commemorate his life and achievements. Sometime had passed and the suddenness still hit us hard.  There were riots in many cities and if it wasn't  for this man and his remarks on the assassination Indianapolis might have erupted also.  The man was Robert F. Kennedy. However, on June 5, 1968 a devastating knock out punch destroyed our dreams. Robert F. Kennedy was killed by an assassin. I had met him. I heard him speak and saw him sweep his hair off his forehead. I got to shake his hand and look him in the eye. I was a college student and I was writing a term paper on the psychological effect of the draft. I got to ask him his stance on the Draft and got a quote from him on "the inequities of the present draft system and the hypocrisy of student deferments."  On that June night I stayed up to watch his victory speech for his win in the California Primary. It was a moment of joy. Then our dreams were literally shot down by a single zealot with a gun. Robert too is interned at Arlington in a site near his brother.

Robert Francis Kennedy's Memorial

A man who gave America's youth hope.

Reflect on the United States living up to its Credo.

You cannot go to Arlington Cemetery without going to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. These souls fought and died for our freedom and because of circumstance we were unable to identify them.

Known only to God

Just outside of Arlington is the Marine Corp Memorial. We all have seen the iconic picture of the Marines raising the American Flag on Mount Suribachi, the highest point on the Island of Iwo Jima during World War II.  The picture is recognized by every older American and most younger Americans.  At the Marine Corp Memorial, they have erected a statue of Joe Rosenthal's Pulitzer Prize for Photography picture.  Walking toward the statue you recognize the scene as you would a picture.  Then, your brain realizes that it three dimensional.  As you walk around, you are moved by the honor and victory of the moment and the men.  It is symbol of the Marine Corp, the Greatest Generation, and every American who served and waited for Victory.  I felt small and I felt great walking around the Statue.  Small because I have never reached their level of determination and sacrifice and great to know that I am an American and a descendant of a service member.

The mystic of the Greatest Generation.

Twenty-seven American military men received the Medal of Honor
in the Battle of Iwo Jima.  Twenty-two were Marines.

Every US Marine knows and does his duty with honor.

Semper Fi

Well, the box of tissue is gone so I am heading back home.  It seems like times have changed but there are still young service personnel in harms way.  Politics are still dividing our country.  However, when you see these memorials you realize that we all share so much.  We cannot change the past but we can change the future.  
The robot has dragged the singularity and is holding it open for our return.  See you next time.  Who knows where we will go next time.