H&I* Fires, 23 MAR 2007

I'm not sure how awards of that nature work exactly, but if he was medevaced stateside and his unit (and thus chain of command) was still in country, I'm sure that'll slow things up a bit. If the unit is who I think it is, they just got back around December or so. Still, 9 months is excessive.

Last two days: Yesterday, we took the metro to Arlington, walked to the Tomb of the Unknown soldier and waited to see a changing of the guard and a wreath laying ceremony. Was, as always, moving, inspiring, and somber. The weather was beautiful, it could not have been a better day. We also walked around a bit, reading tombstones, talking about the significance of the place, etc. Also, and much more moving, we stumbled onto a Faces of the Fallen display inside the Women's Military Service museum. There are arrayed along the arched wall hundresd of small portraits of military people who have died since 9/11 in OEF and OIF, as well as other place, I think. The portraits are about 8x6 inches, and are painted by a number of different artists, but the whole place is just astonishing. The display ends in 2004 sometime, so it does not include everyone from then until now, but even so, it is an amazingly tender and moving testament to the people who are fighting this war. Famous names are there, as are the much more numerous non-famous. I found Sheehan there, with a note from his mother, what a shame she has brought such dishonor to the name he wears. He will never be remembered as the person he was, but as the son of the nutcase antiwar loser who traded his sacrifice for fleeting notoriety.... But you had to be reading the portrait plaques to find that one, because all of them were honored in different but equal ways. Pine cones, candy pennies, stick on stars, notes, letters, other things all were scattered about. I've pictures, I'll try to post some when I get back.. From there, we walked to the Lincoln Memorial, thence to Vietnam Memorial. I had thought I was over that, heh, I was, but not all the way, I guess. Explaining it to my daughter was hard. Thence to the Korean War memorial, still interesting (but there were a great many Asians there, mostly Korean, I think, and it wasn't just that I was looking)... Thence to the WWII memorial, and then to the Whitehouse front and back. Bush or some other big wig exited while we were at the front fence... Motorcycles appeared, the gates opened, they roared off, followed by limos' black SUVs, etc.. Quite a convoy, headed North in a hurry. Could have been anyone, but the number of cops in the vicinity (inside and outside the fence) increased like a rising tide just before the motorcade took off. Talk about an opsec footprint. Hailed a cab (my daughter was just tickled stupid that it really works like it does on TV) back to the hotel, worn out. Ordered Chinese, which was GREAT (Chinatown is 2 blocks from here)... Today, walked 7-8 blocks to the Museum of Natural History. Was great! Saw Lions 3D at Imax which was mediocre, and of course the best display was closed until late 2008 (NO blue whale or oceans stuff!!), but the dinosaurs were cool. The hope diamond looked smudged and dirty, a lot of the interactive displays were inoperable, and there is some remodeling going on, but even so, overall it was great!! There are two photo galleries that just have to be seen to be believed. No words could do these photos justice; they were so amazing I was nearly in tears with both envy and awe. One gallery is nature art contest winners, the other is devoted to a fellow who uses a flatbed scanner (without a lid) to create digital images of all sorts of things. I was floored by the beauty of it all. Just stunned. The trip here was worth it for this alone, if nothing else was any good, and certainly that hasn't been the case. If you get to this area, you must see these photos. After, walked back to the hotel, past the Justice Department (looks like it's under siege) and the FBI building, which also looks under siege (with one lone sign outside that said Public Tours CLOSED). Can't imagine why. Ate leftover Chinese food for dinner, then took the bus (The Circulator Line, it's an excellent value, clean, neat, on time!) to Georgetown for a quick walking tour of the main street. Of course it's Friday, so the circus was complete. People of every nationality, language, dress style, and age wandering among the stores, restaurants, and upscale shops. Bought some Godiva Chocolates by the piece (that felt decadent), ate some NY pizza, and ended with coffee... Bus back, and now it's time to pack so I can go back to boring ol' Texas tomorrow. Of course I could use some boring for a bit. 3 weeks away from home is a bit much for me... Oh yeah, the Post Office announced this week that it will be placing around 400 R2D2-painted mailboxes around the country this month in prep for a series of stamps. I've seen three of them in the past two days, one by the NPR building, one in front of the Daughters of the American Revolution building (west of the Whitehouse), and one in Georgetown. That doesn't leave many for the rest of us, does it... Maybe it was just 400 in the DC area? Either way, they look cool. Got pics of those too. And that's it for now. I hope to get a few picture galleries posted within a week or two... V/R