These are some of the sights I took in on Saturday morning as I guided a tour through Arlington Cemetery and then walked to the Marine Corps Memorial before heading home. All of the graves in the cemetery were adorned with American flags for the Memorial Day remembrance. These are placed there by the Army 3rd Infantry, which is housed at Ft. Myer, directly adjacent to the cemetery. To the right, you are looking through some of the headstones of well over 300,000 men and women buried here up at Arlington House, the home of George Washington Park Custis, and later Robert E. Lee, who had married his daughter Mary. Custis was President Washington's step-grandson.
To the left, you see a well known picture of the U.S. Marine Corps Memorial, frequently referred to as the Iwo Jima Memorial. Dedicated in 1954 by President Dwight Eisenhower, this statue depicts Joe Rosenthal's Pulitzer prize winning photograph of the raising of the flag at the beginning of the battle for Iwo Jima Island during World War II. This deadly battle against the Japanese would rage on for 30 days following the flag raising. Inside the circle on its base is a quote from Pacific Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz, "Uncommon valor was a common virtue." The 100-ton statue and Nimitz' quote sum up the U.S. Marine Corps very well.
On Sunday evening, I gathered up some friends and we headed off to Wolf Trap Farm Park for the Performing Arts in Vienna, Virginia for a picnic and then a concert by the President's Own U.S. Marine Band. Afterward, we were treated to a great fireworks display.
This is the Filene Center beginning to fill in for the night's show at Wolf Trap. It is an open-air venue with both lawn seating and pavilion seating. Well known musical groups, singers and musical theater productions perform there from May through September each year. Colder months offerings at Wolf Trap move into "The Barns," a more intimate concert hall setting.
At 8 p.m., the Marine Band got underway with their concert of mostly patriotic tunes including Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, Souza's Stars and Stripes Forever and, of course, an armed forces medley. We learned that the band's most famous conductor, John Philip Souza himself, re-enlisted in the Naval Reserves during WWI at the age of 62. Wow, that's a man who was dedicated to the service of his country.
The evening would not have been complete without the fireworks display in the meadow a short walk's distance from the Filene Center. Having never successfully photographed fireworks before, I decided to have a go at it. I hope you enjoy the results. This was a display unlike any I've seen before. We were so close that it seemed the bombs were bursting almost directly overhead. Ft. McHenry anyone? At times, the entire sky was lit with gold sparkles. It truly was a sight to see.
Memorial Day began just three years after the American Civil War concluded, in 1868. Today, we honor those individuals who gave the ultimate sacrifice in all wars and all types of service to our nation so that we might live in freedom. This is a day of remembrance and a day to show utmost respect and thanksgiving for these brave men and women.
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