5-15-09

OOH RAH! To some its not even a word but thats what comes to mind when I think about today!
We started the day out with breakfast provided by the hotel. Pretty delicious although about 2 hours earlier than I would have preferred. We headed for the bus for what promised to be a much less stressful and less emotional day. We took the drive out to Quantico and the USMC Museum. This is one of the things that I most wanted to see and I wasn't disappointed!
This particular sight is a little more personal to me. Mom & Dad played a small part (along with thousands of others)in helping to see this sight built and preserved. They donated money to the museum every year that Bubba was in the service. They also donated in memory of the son of friends of theirs who was killed in the war in Iraq. They purchased a brick in his honor. A little red brick with a name....sounds simple enough, but what a sight to behold!
From the moment the bus pulled into the parking lot, I was completely dumbstruck! The structure itself symbolically resembles the Marine Memorial. Its shape is based on the figure of the flag raising at Iwo Jima (which I learned so much more about today from a man at the museum who was there).
When we unloaded the bus, we were greeted by the soulful sound of the bagpipes being played by a Marine. He was there to play for a retirement ceremony that was being held inside, but stepped out to serenade us when he saw us arrive.
Our tour guide greeted us and immediately led us to the first exhibit. I personally payed very little attention to what he was saying. I was way to involved in the retirement ceremony going on just a few yards away from us. It was quite impressive watching this deserving man being honored for his years in the service.
After the ceremony ended, I admid I kind of strayed from the group a bit. I was a little behind the others because I couldn't stop reading and absorbing every piece of available information. It was all fascinating! After a few minutes, I noticed one of my veterans was not far behind me. He had obvious tears in his eyes and was taking in every inch of the museum. He is a US Marine. We were at the beginning of the WWII exhibit of the museum when I started walking with him and listening to his stories. He pointed at weapons displayed and explained their uses. He looked at pictures and defined for me what was actually happening in each one. He stopped and stared at a displayed uniform. It bore the same patches that he had earned. I took his picture by it. He told me that they had thrown away his uniform years before because the moths had gotten to it. I am currently trying to find on the internet a replica of some sort of that badge. I will find it and give it to him.
This gentleman was at Okinawa when it all began. He played a big part on an amphibious assault team. This is something I had never even heard of, but have since vowed to do a lot of research on. He says that once he walked over 11 miles over the island in search of the brother of a friend of his who he thought was also there. He found him. He smiled when he told me that. As well he should. I mean, the guy walked 11 miles just to say "hello" to his buddy's brother. :)
He taught me about tanks, planes, and flame throwers. He explained to me in great detail the size of hole each different bullet or bomb would leave in a person or object. I tried to take every second of this in. It was amazing.
Later in the exhibit, I ran into our only female veteran. She is a tiny and wonderful woman. She was alone looked kind of lost. She didn't say much about her time in the service. She talked to me instead, of what it was like coming home. We were looking at the infamous picture of the homecoming where the sailor is kissing a girl. She said that when they all came home, they pushed their war memories aside. She said how greatful she was to have this chance to bring these memories back now. She told me that when they came home, people didn't talk about what happened. They just got on with their lives. They worked, they married, they raised families. They didn't have their hands out complaining. They didn't feel that they had anything coming to them. They thought they had done what they were supposed to do and now it was over.
We had a good lunch in the "Messhall" and hit the giftshop before we went back to the bus. We tried to hit a couple of other museums. The Smithsonian Air & Space & Native American museums which are side by side in the National Mall. WAY to many tourists!!! The Air & Space was filled to the gills with students. Very young, very hyper, very disrespectful students. We couldn't even get close enough to any of the exhibits to make them interesting.
After a few minutes, Mom & I headed outside with our crew. We had every intention of heading towards the Native American Museum but we ran into one of our vets and our busdriver (an awesome guy) They were sitting outside the bus in the shade. Just shootin the breeze and watching all the people go by. For the next hour, we had the best time! The stories were great and so many people stopped to chat with and show their gratitude to our boys. It was awesome!
We left and headed to JR's for a prime rib dinner. We were a little early getting there, so we got to go back to the hotel a little early for some much needed relaxation. We got together in our breakfast room for what should have been a quick meeting. Thats where the hard stuff began. The previous day, it was arranged so that a flag was flown at the capitol. One honoring each of our veterans. We got these flags and a nice certificate to give to them.
The guys were pretty touched and we got to hand them out individually to the guys in our teams. It was a very emotional hour. The guys shared a lot of stories from past and present. There wasn't a dry eye in the room. We lightened the mood by having a drink in honor of another veteran who had recently passed. There may have been one or two extra drinks had :) Oops.
Overall, another awesome day. I can't stop writing this stuff. Its so much to take in and I want to remember all of it. What an experience!