DC Trip-Paul Reilly

I have been to Washington DC before and never noticed the location and surroundings of DC. These two factors can and have shifted how I interpreted memorials. The intentional placement of a controversial war memorial such as Vietnam next to World War II, across from the Lincoln Memorial, and in direct line of sight of the Washington Monument might imply that the allocators for the memorial wanted the war remembered but a positive spin to rub off on visitors from previous sites on either site visited.

A picture of the center of the Vietnam Memorial and how the side lines up exactly with the Washington Monument.

I took this photo of veterans of Vietnam, World War II, and others. We discussed how the WWII monument was built in order to memorialize those who veterans specifically who are dying off and it is incredible that these frail and elderly humans would venture out into the rain and cold. This commitment to their trip shows how important the experiencing of memorials is to people.

I was personally disappointed with the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. The positioning of the monument seemed almost intentionally out of place and secluded from the other memorials. I liked the concept of the mountain and walking through it but the monument itself was facing away from the focus of all the other leaders and memorials. I personally don't buy that he is facing the Jefferson Memorial because his eyes do not line up. The ironly also abounds that he would be looking to Jefferson when Martin Luther King Jr. spoke in front of the Lincoln Memorial intentionally and the fact that Jefferson had slaves.

The stone here reminded me of the Vietnam Memorial and sure enough one of speech quotes of Martin Luther King Jr. was against Vietnam. Whether intentional or accidentally it is an interesting coincidence.

Location again seemed startling at the Iwo Jima statue. The fact that you could clearly see the memorial from the highway/main street clearly was intentional due to the size and location. I personally liked this memorial much more than the WWII memorial in which it just seemed insignificant between the Lincoln and Washington.

The two final pictures are of plaques and a small paper cross left at the Vietnam and Arlington Cemetery. The differences in composition and permanency are interesting and say different messages. They are from different groups and have different perspectives on the memorials in question.

My final not regards the Lincoln Memorial in which Lincoln himself sits astride a unified South and North and staring at a completed Washington Monument. Lincoln never saw either and is for me ironic. Also, upon leaving the Lincoln Memorial the concrete followed by marble on top repeats the differences in material of the Washington Monument. Both pieces themselves act as bookends to the Memorials in my opinion on the Mall and this repetition seems a coming of circle that is much more satisfying than the World War II Memorial presented.

~Paul Reilly~