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...