D.C. Trip - Jeckovich

         I very much enjoyed our pilgrimage to Washington DC. My experience was different than what I anticipated it to be. I visited D.C. on an 8th grade class trip, but unfortunately took very little away from it and remembered even less than what I took away.

         May 8th is Victory in Europe day, so the World War II memorial was swarming with veterans as our mega bus pulled up to the National Mall. Our class was fortunate enough to see a bit of the ceremony they were hosting. I couldn't help but imagine the memorial on any other day, as the atmosphere of the memorial is completely altered when it is filled with veterans being honored. The Memorial that typically sits empty, with tourists running to take a picture in front of their state’s pillar, was swarming with Veterans.

         I know we made the pilgrimage as tourists, but as we explored the memorials of the National Mall, I truly felt like a tourist. I think the touristy aspect cheapened the experience for me a bit, as a felt very much like an outsider looking in. Then again, you could tell the natives of D.C., as they were casually jogging through the national mall, hardly glancing up at the Washington monument or Lincoln’s memorial. Mary Page and I discussed our conflicting feelings as we walked along the National Mall. Were we supposed to be full of national pride? Neither of us were too convinced, which is something I was not expecting.

         My favorite memorial was the Vietnam veteran’s memorial. It was the site I was looking forward to most seeing as the books we've read for class have interested me the most. Something about being immersed in the names of the dead was very powerful, and seeing the items that were left that day elicited an emotional response. For instance, there was a letter left there for "Dick" detailing the day of his death - May 8th. The site has been described as active in most of the works we've read about it, and I experienced that today.

I was moved by Arlington cemetery and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The shear size of Arlington humbles you immediately, rows on rows of tombstones. The changing of the guards at the tomb was exactly how I remembered, and one of the only things I remembered from my trip in the 8th grade. The tomb demanded respect and was a place of great honor and remembrance.

P.S.- I've already forgotten about the Korean War Memorial.