The Memorial Wall is made up of two 246-foot-9-inch (75.21 m) long gabbro walls, etched with the names of the servicemen being honoured …
As many do, I found is stark, simple and evocative. All the names a sharp rebuke to those in politics and the military who stupidly decided to have the USA fight in Vietnam. Sadly Trump and his military henchmen are not likely to have learned the lessons of Vietnam nor Iraq.
Within the walled triangle are 19 stainless steel statues …each larger than life-size, between 7 feet 3 inches (2.21 m) and 7 feet 6 inches (2.29 m) tall; each weighs nearly 1,000 pounds (500 kg). …
Dead — United States: 54,246,[9] United Nations: 628,833[10]
Wounded — United States: 103,284, United Nations: 1,064,453.
Captured — United States: 7,140, United Nations: 92,970.
Missing — United States: 8,177,[11][12] United Nations: 470,267.
Despite the huge casualty list you don’t hear much about the Korean War any longer.
Adjacent to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the USHMM provides for the documentation, study, and interpretation of Holocaust history. It is dedicated to helping leaders and citizens of the world confront hatred, prevent genocide, promote human dignity, and strengthen democracy. …
Since its dedication on April 22, 1993, the Museum has had nearly 40 million visitors, including more than 10 million school children, 99 heads of state, and more than 3,500 foreign officials from over 211 countries. …
On entry you are given a booklet ID card of a Jew killed in the holocaust.
I got Thomas Elek executed by Nazi firing squad on Feb 21, 1944 at the age of 20.
It’s a sobering experience to focus on just one individual of the millions murdered.
My visited reminded me of a prominent, intelligent, influential, articulate Jewish American who’s stridently right wing. Strongly anti-Muslim. Against immigration.
When I pointed out that his statements were exactly what many have said about the Jews over the past few hundred years … he told me his Islamophobia was completely different.
No President, not even Washington, inspires Americans more than honest Abe.
There are well over 15,000 books written about him.
Ford Theater bookstore
I visited the Lincoln Memorial twice. It’s very popular at dusk.
His statue could not be more impressive.
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention were hosting an Out of the Darkness Walk here when I visited.
In 1963 Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered his “I have a dream…” speech here.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal’.
Lincoln’s work is far from finished. He needs inspire many more for many generations to come.
I spent a few weeks this year near the Berri-UQAM Metro station on Rue Sainte-Catherine, heart of downtown Montreal. There are a LOT of homeless people. It reminds me of a major American city in that way.
One survey (Douglas Mental Health University / 800+ volunteers) counted 3,016 homeless in the city. 10% aboriginal. 10% immigrants. Veterans 6%.
Other guesstimates have been 10 times as high.
I was there during warmer months. During winter these folks need to find someplace heated.
A harsh and boring life, seems to me. They all seem to have cigarettes. Somehow.
Not sure what can be done to reduce the numbers. A guaranteed minimum income experiment — or new kinds of free housing — could be tried.