DC Cookie

Friday, June 23, 2006

Favourite Memorial

Without a doubt...the haunting, realistic emotions portrayed in the faces of the statues blows me away every time.

KoreanMemorial

What's yours?

cookie_image2 posted by DC Cookie @ 10:37 AM  

28 Comments:

  • At June 23, 2006 10:59 AM, Blogger Melissa said…

    Not really a memorial but every time I catch footage of a plane crashing into the World Trade Center, It takes my breath away. It also makes me cry. Then I want to wave the flag and sing the national anthem.

     

  • At June 23, 2006 11:09 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    FDR memorial. It's not even close

     

  • At June 23, 2006 11:26 AM, Blogger Jessica said…

    I'm all about the FDR memorial, too. I get all verklempt whenever I go.

     

  • At June 23, 2006 11:33 AM, Blogger Heather B. said…

    How sad is it that I can't even remember the last time I've been to a memorial? Gah.

     

  • At June 23, 2006 11:33 AM, Blogger sammygeerock said…

    Vietnam Memorial, love the statues, and almost every time I go there I see a Vet who is there remembering a friend. Very moving to see a rough tough Vet or soldier brought to tears.

     

  • At June 23, 2006 11:50 AM, Blogger JordanBaker said…

    I so often do all of them in one day that I've begun to think of them less as individual memorials and more as one big entity.

    That said, I like the combination of words and statuary at Lincoln and FDR, the view from the Jefferson, and the (very different) experiences I've had with vets or vet families at Vietnam and WWII (it's like their presence ads a living component to the memorial).

     

  • At June 23, 2006 11:50 AM, Blogger JordanBaker said…

    "adds" as in math, not "ads" as in advertisements. More coffee, please.

     

  • At June 23, 2006 12:31 PM, Blogger Phil said…

    Lincoln is still pretty much bad-ass, to me. Everything from the sculpture of Lincoln himself to its location.

    Jefferson got screwed. Nobody wants to go see TJ all the way across the river.

    Iwo Jima is a good one, too (technically the Marine Corp War Memorial). Did you know you cannot see all 5 Marines no matter where you stand in relation to the memorial? (I learned that in 7th grade)

     

  • At June 23, 2006 1:05 PM, Blogger DC Cookie said…

    Phil - did you also know there are 11 hands on the flag pole? 2 hands for each marine and 1 hand of God.

     

  • At June 23, 2006 1:13 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    FDR, no question. Korean War is a good one, though. FDR stood taller in his wheelchair than all those who have come after him.

     

  • At June 23, 2006 2:30 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    when will we have a gulf war memorial? or is this war not considered a 'war' or as important as those in the past?

     

  • At June 23, 2006 2:50 PM, Blogger I-66 said…

    My favorite memorial: Memorial Day

     

  • At June 23, 2006 2:58 PM, Blogger Carrie Broadshoulders said…

    It took six decades to get a WWII Memorial, I wouldn't expect a Gulf War memorial anytime soon. As much criticism as it has received, I actually really like the WWII memorial, especially at night. It's got a lot going on, but I like it. I also appreciate the FDR for how it is a bit removed and very quiet and solemn there. I always feel like I'm the only one there looking at it when I'm over there.

    As a Wahoo, I will still argue that Jefferson's is the coolest. Though I agree location sucks, except when the Cherry Blossoms are out. It's beautiful sitting there on the Tidal Basin in the Spring.

     

  • At June 23, 2006 3:08 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Automatic tears for:

    1) The statue of the nurses with the soldier at the Vietnam memorial. Just *thinking* about combat medics gets me misty, but to think of the nurses and what they had to deal with back then - you can see the pain and hope in their faces.

    2) Museum of American History, the exhibit where they pull items from the Vietnam Memorial and put them on display. There's a letter from a nurse. She writes how she came to Vietnam and realized that she was not God.

    Not automatic tears, but next time it's foul weather, observe the Changing of the Guard at Arlington.

    -Jon

     

  • At June 23, 2006 3:49 PM, Blogger VP of Dior said…

    maybe it's cliche, but the washington monument. whenever I fly into DCA airport I know I'm finally home when I see the washington mounment from above. it's a wonderful feeling.

     

  • At June 23, 2006 5:09 PM, Blogger Barbara said…

    Just seeing a color guard at any occasion gives me shivers. It's hard for me to understand how little boys can be turned into such a serious and carefully coordinated entity. I'm usually just catching my breath as the national anthem begins. That's when I feel patriotic, not when looking at memorials to dead service men and women. Don't know why.

     

  • At June 23, 2006 5:18 PM, Blogger Marci said…

    Oh I was just at that one the other day. It especially gets me when it's raining.

    My favorite though? Lincoln. Similar to Jordan, it's a combo of the words and the statue. Man, they new how to write speeches back then

     

  • At June 23, 2006 6:00 PM, Blogger Raincouver said…

    The most impressive memorial: the vatican. The most inspiring... I don't know. Vimy Ridge was inspiring to me... First time our country fought as a nation.

     

  • At June 23, 2006 9:05 PM, Blogger Pagan Marbury said…

    Korean War is my favorite too. It's an amazing experience at night.

     

  • At June 23, 2006 10:30 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I really like the WWII memorial, especially at night.

    It's not really a memorial, but I can't stay dry-eyed within 100 yards of the Holocaust Museum. No matter how often I go, it gets me every time.

     

  • At June 24, 2006 10:33 AM, Blogger Jinxy said…

    Sorry, Cookie. That stuff about a "thirteenth hand" is just and urban legend. The definitive account of the memorial's creation can be found in John Bradley's "Flags Of Our Fathers".

    And there were five Marines and one Navy Corpsman (don't call him a medic) raising the flag.

    Best memorial in Washington, DC?

    The Robert Gould Shaw And The 54th Massachusetts Memorial at the National Gallery of Art.

     

  • At June 24, 2006 10:34 AM, Blogger Jinxy said…

    "James Bradley"

    Sorry.

     

  • At June 24, 2006 12:58 PM, Blogger Kendrick said…

    I can see why so many people like the FDR memorial, I like it too. The design is pretty clever: a life-sized timeline / progression of events in FDR's presidency. Not to mention, it's just a peaceful place to be at night when all the tourists have gone home.

    However, when it comes to design, I think Maya Lin's Vietnam Veterans Memorial design is one of the most well-thought out memorial designs ever. The site design (having it sunken into the ground), the ordering of the names on the wall (by day of death), the choice of materials (polished black granite), all has meaning and you feel it when you are standing face-to-face with the wall. I
    wrote about it in detail last May for APA Heritage Month 2005 for anyone who's interested in memorial and information design.

    If you want to talk about controversy, check up on some recent 1980s history about the racist fervor some people had when they found out Lin, an Asian-American, won the public design competition for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Some people asked, "How can you let a gook design this? How did it happen that an Asian-American woman was permitted to make a memorial for American men who died fighting in Asia?" (Iris Chang, The Chinese in America, 2003)

     

  • At June 24, 2006 1:18 PM, Blogger Kendrick said…

    I agree with your opinion of the Korean War Memorial too. The faces and stances are almost haunting in nature. The statues placed among the greenery makes it look as if they are wearily working their way through a dense field. You can't help but stop in your tracks and realize how harsh the Korean War was and how little people know about the details. I found myself going home and digging out some reading material about "the forgotten war" after I visited the memorial for the first time. If that's not effective design, motivating people to go learn more, I don't know what is.

    One for the soapbox: every general American history class I've taken never covered the Korean War beyond a few paragraphs. In fact, rarely is anything post-1945 covered in depth. The textbook ending with Reagan being elected president shouldn't be an excuse either...

     

  • At June 24, 2006 9:47 PM, Blogger Jinxy said…

    No problem.

    "...AN urban legend".

    See? Happens to the best of us.

     

  • At June 25, 2006 8:50 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    FDR is an experience that tends to amaze, Jefferson for beauty, the Lincoln is intense if you take the time to read it, but the Vietnam wins over all for emotional impact. Cry nearly every time.

    (You know what, though, the Tomb of the Unknowns is moving as well.)

     

  • At June 25, 2006 2:44 PM, Blogger PseudoIntellect said…

    The Viet Nam Memorial. The subtlety of the black granite looms like the termoil that surrounded that entire era. It stands as a permanent reminder of the darkness that those brave Americans endured, particularly to those with family members' names on it...

     

  • At June 27, 2006 4:56 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    i'm not sure if anyone else noticed this, but sammygeerock, the picture's of the korean memorial, not the vietnam.... the vietnam memorial is a long black wall that cuts into the earth. very cool.. you should check it out.

     

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