War, and More

Last saturday we went to the Arlington National Cemetery in the DC area. More than 300,000 US soldiers KIA have been buried here. Well to be honest, we went there as tourists, probably wanting take pictures and all, but the moment you enter the site, you get a very different feeling. It is, well, not eerie, but silent, very silent. You see graves everywhere. Every tombstone has the name of the buried soldier, the war they fought in, and their birth and death date.

It's a very long walk inside the cemetery. You can either walk or take a bus ride. My sister wanted me not to take pictures inside as a mark of respect to the dead. I agreed. I got this picture from Wikipedia so that you all could get a glimpse.

At the end of the cemetery is the Tomb of the Unknowns - for those soldiers who could not be identified. The tomb is guarded all the times by a guard. During winter times, the guard changes every hour and during summer time, every half hour. It seems like guarding the Tomb of the Unknowns is a big honor. A short ceremony is conducted every hour (or half hour) when the guard changes, and both the relief commander and the oncoming guard are required for the "guard change" to take place. Read more about it here.

On our way back we stopped at John F. Kennedy's grave, which is also in the Arlington National Cemetery. Just so you know, you can see the Pentagon right across JFK's grave.

From the cemetery we went to the Iwo Jima Memorial, which is dedicated to all the soldiers who have sacrificed their lives in wars since 1775. It is a beautiful (and extremely huge) statue based on the photo clicked by Joe Rosenthal when marines raised the American flag during the Battle of Iwo Jima.

The statue looks very elegant and life-like. It has been so beautifully sculptured that you can actually see the creases on the soldiers' pants. And of course, it is huge. You have to see it to believe how huge it is. When you look at the soldiers you immediately understand how tough the battle was, and how desperately they were waiting to raise the flag, announce victory and end four days of dreadful combat.