Veteran's Day

This site, as you know, is dedicated to honoring Vietnam veteran's by visiting, photographing, and writing about memorials to the those who served. Today, however, it seems more than fitting to remember that we are not alone in our service. Our ancestors have earned the respect of us all through all the years of our history. And, now, our children fight in distant lands. They, too, shall be remembered.

Veteran's Day began as Armistice Day. At the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, 1918 hostilities ceased (an armistice) in The Great War. The peace treaty was actually signed quite sometime later. In 1938 Armistice Day was made a federal holiday and later, after WWII and Korea the name was changed to Veteran's Day to honor all vets of all wars. There are more than 23 million American vets today.

You can find much more information about Veteran's Day here;

http://www.history.com/Topics/history-of-Veterans-day

I was in Richmond, Virginia and stopped to see the Virginia War Memorial. It is a magnificent site that honors all Veterans. I thought it would be good to include this wonderful site here, too. Expansion of the original 1956 site was just completed this last July. I had stopped by then but could not get any pictures or info as there was too much construction equipment, etc in the area. Today, it is nearly complete and one of the staff kindly showed me all around. The Vietnam portion of the lists of names is etched upon the glass wall of the Shrine of Memory, as it is called. The names from other wars are etched upon the facing stone wall. The statue is called "Memory" and she stands with The Torch of Liberty, an eternal flame, at her feet. She watches over the 11,634 names etched here for all time. The Torch represents "patriotism that is everlasting." The site, also, boasts a Flag Court and Rose Gardens. The Shrine is open 365 days a year with the auditoriums, visitor center and gift shops open 'til 4 pm. It is located on route 1 (621 Belvidere Street) just north of the Robert E. Lee Bridge.

You can find more information here;

www.vawarmemorial.org

I, also, visited Virginia Beach this week and came upon this beautiful memorial to all veterans. It is based upon the ideas of three local high school students who participated in a design contest. It depicts how the world is split by war, and how some pieces of our world, our selves (our humanity?) are lost forever. There are a number of flags, including U.S., Va., all Military Services flags, a special Tidewater Veteran's Flag. A POW/MIA Flag will fly until all are accounted for.

This memorial sits at 1000, 19th street, in Virginia Beach, Va.

There is much more information regarding the memorial at this site;

http://virginia-beaches.net/Attractions/veteran.htm


If you see a vet today, say "Thanks"