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Published: February 25th 2021
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http://www.heygo.com 25th February - The Lincoln Memorial & The Capitol Reflecting Pool.
Another first - virtual visit to Washington DC.
The Lincoln Memorial stands at the west end of the National Mall as a monument to the 16th President, it stands 190 feet long, 119 feet wide, and almost 100 feet high.
Surrounded by 36 columns, one for each of the thirty six states in the Union at the time of Lincoln's death.
Because Hawaii and Alaska attained statehood several decades after the Lincoln Memorial was finished, their names are inscribed on a plaque located on the front steps.
The statue of Lincoln is 19 feet high and weighs 175 tons. The original plan was for the statue to be only ten feet high, but this was changed so that the figure of Lincoln would not be dwarfed by the size of the chamber.
Construction began in 1914, and the memorial was opened to the public in 1922. The Memorial is the site of many large public gatherings and protests. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech by the monument in 1963.
Lincoln's hands appear
to be making sign language symbols of his initials "A" and "L."
Sculptor Daniel Chester French used molds of Lincoln's hands cast in 1860 to guide his work. These molds were created with Lincoln's hands in a loose fist. Instead of keeping both hands closed, French chose to relax Lincoln's right hand. From this presentation, many infer the duality of Lincoln's power and strength on the closed left hand, and his compassion and peace on the right. This interpretation fits in with the motif of oak leaves and olive branches throughout the memorial, symbols of strength and peace.
The view from the steps was the impressive Capitol Reflecting Pool.
This was included in the plans for the Washington Mall area prepared in the 1960s and 1970s to reduce traffic on the Mall and to have access for pedestrian and recreational use.
We then walked to The Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
The memorial was dedicated on November 13, 1982, presided over by President Ronald Reagan
The names are inscribed in the chronological order of their dates of casualty.
It was interesting to learn that each name is preceded or followed by
a symbol designating status.
A diamond symbol denotes that the service member’s death was confirmed & this'd whose names are designated by the cross symbol were in missing or prisoner status at the end of the war and remain missing and unaccounted for.
In the event a serviceman’s remains are returned or he is otherwise accounted for, the diamond symbol is superimposed over the cross.
If a man returns alive, a circle, as a symbol of life, will be inscribed around the cross.
Close by was the Three serviceman statue, cast in bronze, differing from other monuments and memorials in Washington, D.C. It is finished with a patina which provided a variety of subtle color variations. The flesh areas are a rich caramel bronze and the uniforms are a slightly olive color. High polish is accented on the eyes, hair, buttons, and pieces of military equipment.
The three figures that make up statue represent American racial and ethnic diversity. They are purposefully identifiable as Caucasian, African-American and Hispanic-American.
Next we saw The Vietnam Women's Memorial, which commemorates the 265,000 women that served in the Vietnam War, many of whom worked
as nurses. The 15 feet tall statue and depicts three women attending to a wounded soldier, one looking up for the waiting helicopter.
These monuments were very evocative.
Next tour is to Washington Monument t & WW2 Memorial.
National Monument & WW2 Memorial
The 2nd of my virtual trips to Washington commenced overlooking the African American Museum with its interesting facade which is covered in a latticework of bronze-colored cast-aluminum panels that recall celebrated historical patterns black ironworkers in the South.
We had viewed it from the Lincoln Memorial and now we were up close to the National Monument. The structure was completed in two phases of construction, one private (1848-1854) and one public (1876-1884). When completed, the Washington Monument was the tallest building in the world.
The flags were all flying at half mast, apparently President Biden had ordered the flags to be lowered for one week in memory of the 500,000 Americans who had lost their lives to Covid-19.
In the distance we could see the White House & Capitol Building but it was too far away to see clearly.
We then moved to the WW2 Memorial - another moving memorial to those who lost their lives in the 2nd World War.
Bronze bas-relief panels tell the story of America’s experience in the war, while 56 granite pillars representing each U.S. state and territory at the time of World War II.
On each side of the monument, a northern “Atlantic” arch and a southern “ Pacific" arch and a wall of over 4,000 stars, each representing 100 Americans who died in the war.
It's been a moving day virtually & I can only imagine what it would be like to visit in person.
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