Reflecting near the Reflecting Pool

November 27th, 2006 at 07:49pm rochelle 35

Good evening from the capital...where I spent most of the day in round table meetings and discussions. The time was well spent as questions were answered, problems were solved and a common ground was discovered. It was a good day. After our full day of meetings a handful of us walked a few blocks to the Reflection Pool and the Lincoln Memorial. The Lincoln Memorial has been the site for numerous historical events such as "The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom/Civil Rights March" on August 8, 1963 the place where the Rev. Martin Luther King jr famously made the "I have a dream" speech; it was also the site for "Solidarity Day" June 6, 1968; the site for the ERA rally on October 21, 1981; the site where President Harry S. Truman was addressing the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People back on June 24, 1941 with Eleanor Roosevelt seated nearby. I was on the steps where all these historical moments had occured and I was moved. President Lincoln words inspired many "We hold the power and bare the responsibility"; "I have faith in the people"; "A house divided against itself can not stand"; "...government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth". Over 100 nations have honored President Lincoln and after President Lincoln death a reporter wrote "Washington taught the world to know us, Lincoln taught us to know ourselves". After our visit at the Lincoln Memorial the group of us quietly walked to the Korean War Veterans Memorial then onto the Vietnam Women's Memorial and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

Engraved at the Korean War Veterans Memorial: "Our nation honors her sons & daughters who answered the call to defend a country they never knew and a people they never met"

Fact at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial: 58,000 names engraved on the wall.

Entry Filed under: Politics, Travel