Heroes

Our last day in D.C. was one where we visited the memorial of Heroes. The day started with us getting some awesome bagels and then heading to the Lincoln Memorial. After a breakfast picnic we headed up those steps Every few steps i took, i turned around to see the beauty of national mall that was behind me. Eventually tho i was in the memorial of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the USA. He was a brave hero who was not afraid to stand up to the brutality of slavery despite it being popular at the time. He is a personal hero of mine so it was a big moment for me, being in that hall. Once again the architecture was simple yet so extravagant at the same time. It was something i would never forget for the rest of my life. As we exited the memorial, we saw the spot in which the great Dr King gave his “I Have a Dream” speech during the March on Washington . The spot was engraved and that i felt was highly appropriate and respectful of such a turning point in history. After visiting President Lincoln, we headed for the Korean War memorial. The memorial were statues of a platoon of soldiers walking through a grass patch, depicting what the soldiers had face in the war. The part that really made it special was that when we were there, there were actual veterans visiting the sites. These men had seen what war was really like,not just exercises and practices. These men defended liberty withe their lives and they lost friends along the way. There was a veteran who broke down when he saw the statues and that moment showed me the meaning of how the loss of war never really heals. After the Korean War memorial, we headed to Martin Luther King Junior’s Memorial. His memorial was a large block with Dr King carved out of it. There was no explanation as to why it was designed like that but from my understanding, it was that his work was not done and the fight against discrimination was not completed. What a man. Like Lincoln, this man is a personal hero of mine. People like this come along so rarely in Human history.

After Dr King’s memorial, we headed for the WW2 memorial. This memorial had huge waterfall and was designed immaculately. There was a board of stars that represented every American life lost to the war. It always leaves me sick in my stomach that all this horror was caused by a few mad men. The last memorial on the list was the Vietnam war memorial that highlighted every name of every person lost to the war. Here, i met a WW2 veteran and managed  to speak to him. This man was 90 years old and he went to war at 20 years old. This man went to fight a war when he was younger than i am now. I thanked him for his service and wished him a good day. If people wonder why i thanked him for his service even though i am not an American, here is why. He fought end dictatorships that sought to rule the world. That man may have flown an American flag but he fought for every one of us who lives in freedom today. Following the memorial, we had a short visit to a Smithsonian museum while my parents, aunt and sisters visited an art exhibition. Following this we retuned to the apartment for some pizza and ice cream. As it was our last day with everyone (not for me tho), we decided to spend more time with each other rather than spend it outside.