Tuesday evening we took the "Illumination Tour," which features the main monuments along the Mall. We first went the the Vietnam War Memorial. There aren't really any words to describe how moving the monument is. It is something that really has to be experienced for oneself. I will add that this is the only monument that was designed to be touched, in order to draw the viewer in emotionally and physically
Next we visited the Lincoln Memorial. The state of Lincoln inside is huge and awe-inspiring. On either side of him, quotations from the Gettysburg Address and the Second Inaugural are inscribed into the walls. Lincoln was a brilliant writer, who managed to combine moral truths, political philosophy, and a simple but sophisticated turn of phrase. He was a truly great man.
Then we visited the Korean War Memorial. I didn't get a good picture of it. All I have to say, is that the sculptor decided to blend the feautures five different races into the faces of the soldiers to creat some strangely alien looking statues. Another example of PC out of control.
Finally, we visited the WWII monument, only finished a couple years ago. My favorite features of the design were the opposing entry arches representing the Pacific and the Atlantic theatres. On the marble wall beneath, the names of all the battles in each respective theatre were inscribed. According to the guide, over 400,000 Americans died in WWII.
