Friday, July 16, 2004

Memorial to the Greatest Generation


I was lucky enough to finish early at my customer site in DC and stop by the Mall to visit the National World War II Memorial.

Take the time to visit in person if you get a chance, it is an awesome experience.
For now, take a virtual tour here: http://www.wwiimemorial.com/

I walked and read the many inscriptions.
I sat and pondered the huge sacrifice to maintain our own freedom and deliver it to the world.
I sang the Anthem.

Below are listed the inscriptions found on various walls:


HERE IN THE PRESENCE OF WASHINGTON AND LINCOLN,
ONE THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY FATHER AND THE OTHER THE
NINETEENTH CENTURY PRESERVER OF OUR NATION, WE HONOR
THOSE TWENTIETH CENTURY AMERICANS WHO TOOK UP THE STRUGGLE
DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR AND MADE THE SACRIFICES TO
PERPETUATE THE GIFT OUR FOREFATHERS ENTRUSTED TO US:
A NATION CONCEIVED IN LIBERTY AND JUSTICE.




AMERICANS CAME TO LIBERATE, NOT TO CONQUER,
TO RESTORE FREEDOM AND TO END TYRANNY




PEARL HARBOR
DECEMBER 7, 1941, A DATE WHICH WILL LIVE IN INFAMY...
NO MATTER HOW LONG IT MAY TAKE US TO OVERCOME THIS
PREMEDITATED INVASION, THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, IN THEIR
RIGHTEOUS MIGHT, WILL WIN THROUGH TO ABSOLUTE VICTORY.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt

THEY HAVE GIVEN THEIR SONS TO THE MILITARY SERVICES. THEY
HAVE STOKED THE FURNACES AND HURRIED THE FACTORY WHEELS.
THEY HAVE MADE THE PLANES AND WELDED THE TANKS,
RIVETED THE SHIPS AND ROLLED THE SHELLS.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt

WOMEN WHO STEPPED UP WERE MEASURED AS CITIZENS OF THE NATION,
NOT AS WOMEN...THIS WAS A PEOPLE'S WAR, AND EVERYONE WAS IN IT.

Colonel Oveta Culp Hobby

THEY FOUGHT TOGETHER AS BROTHERS-IN-ARMS.
THEY DIED TOGETHER AND NOW THEY SLEEP SIDE BY SIDE.
TO THEM WE HAVE A SOLEMN OBLIGATION.

Admiral Chester W. Nimitz




BATTLE OF MIDWAY JUNE 4-7, 1942
THEY HAD NO RIGHT TO WIN. YET THEY DID, AND IN DOING SO THEY CHANGED
THE COURSE OF A WAR...EVEN AGAINST THE GREATEST OF ODDS, THERE IS
SOMETHING IN THE HUMAN SPIRIT - A MAGIC BLEND OF SKILL, FAITH AND
VALOR - THAT CAN LIFT MEN FROM CERTAIN DEFEAT TO INCREDIBLE VICTORY.

Walter Lord, Author

THE WAR'S END
TODAY THE GUNS ARE SILENT. A GREAT TRAGEDY HAS ENDED. A GREAT
VICTORY HAS BEEN WON. THE SKIES NO LONGER RAIN DEATH - THE SEAS
BEAR ONLY COMMERCE - MEN EVERYWHERE WALK UPRIGHT IN THE
SUNLIGHT. THE ENTIRE WORLD IS QUIETLY AT PEACE.

General Douglas MacArthur




WE ARE DETERMINED THAT BEFORE THE SUN SETS ON THIS TERRIBLE STRUGGLE
OUR FLAG WILL BE RECOGNIZED THROUGHOUT THE WORLD AS A SYMBOL OF
FREEDOM ON THE ONE HAND AND OF OVERWHELMING FORCE ON THE OTHER.

General George C. Marshall

D-DAY JUNE 6, 1944
YOU ARE ABOUT TO EMBARK UPON THE GREAT CRUSADE TOWARD
WHICH WE HAVE STRIVEN THESE MANY MONTHS. THE EYES OF
THE WORLD ARE UPON YOU...I HAVE FULL CONFIDENCE IN YOUR
COURAGE, DEVOTION TO DUTY AND SKILL IN BATTLE.

General Dwight D. Eisenhower




OUR DEBT TO THE HEROIC MEN AND VALIANT WOMEN IN THE SERVICE
OF OUR COUNTRY CAN NEVER BE REPAID. THEY HAVE EARNED OUR
UNDYING GRATITUDE. AMERICA WILL NEVER FORGET THEIR SACRIFICES.

President Harry S Truman

THE HEROISM OF OUR OWN TROOPS...WAS MATCHED BY THAT
OF THE ARMED FORCES OF THE NATIONS THAT FOUGHT BY OUR
SIDE...THEY ABSORBED THE BLOWS...AND THEY SHARED TO THE
FULL IN THE ULTIMATE DESTRUCTION OF THE ENEMY.

President Harry S Truman


HERE WE MARK THE PRICE OF FREEDOM

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God Bless the Republic or the United States of America...

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