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It’s hard to believe that it’s already been two weeks since Grandpa & I left on on our adventure to the USA nation’s capitol. He and I took a trip to Washington D.C. sponsored by Central Prairie Honor Flights. All WWII veterans travel at no cost to them. If you think this is a worthy cause, why not consider making a donation to help keep the movement alive? If you know a WWII veteran who has not made the trip, don’t delay… apply to get their name on the list right away! If they are physically able to travel at all, they need to do this!

Last week I wrote about getting to DC and our first day in the area. In this post I will give a little detail about what we did during our only full day in Washington.

We had an early Reveille on the day of our tour. Breakfast was served at 6am and the bus departed around 7:30. We arrived at the WWII memorial shortly after 8 am and we were among the first visitors there. We spent a great deal of time posing for a group shot. My camera couldn’t fit them all in, so this picture is a composite of four photos that I stitched together with photoshop.

I figured the Kansas marker would be a popular spot so we hurried over to the north end of the memorial & took a picture there first.

Then we moved to the center of the memorial and enjoyed the view.

Grandpa was in the Pacific so we headed over to the south end to see the Pacific battles. Grandpa was wounded on Biak, New Guinea, so he posed for a picture near the New Guinea marker.

All of my four years of sea duty were served in the Pacific as well so grandpa & I posed together near the MacArthur quotation made on the USS Missouri at the WWII surrender.

My other grandpa, Claude Rickley, served in Europe during WWII. He traveled with us to the memorial in spirit. I made a photograph of his picture & burial flag at the Battle of the Bulge, where he fought. I wish he could have gone with us, he would have loved this trip. I miss him.

After the WWII memorial, we visited the haunting Korean War memorial. Grandpa commented that the statues of the soldiers were quite real to life, down to the smallest detail. Even the carbine rifles looked like the one he carried.

Next was the unforgettable Lincoln memorial. So much history in this place, and what do my kids think of when I came home with this picture? Of course it was Night at the Museum, Battle of the Smithsonian.

The Vietnam memorial is also unforgettable. So many names, so many young men lost.

After our tour of the National Mall, we had time for a museum tour before lunch. We chose the Smithsonian Air & Space museum. Our other choice was the Holocaust museum. Grandpa had no interest in seeing that. He’s witnessed enough tragedy in his lifetime.

I was glad we went to the Smithsonian, because we saw the Apollo 11 command module.

The original Wright Flyer, the world’s first aircraft.

And an honest to goodness moon rock. I wanted badly to touch it, but it is encased in plastic.

Afterwards, we ate lunch and headed for the Iwo Jima memorial.

And the tomb of the unknown soldier.

Finally, we returned to the WWII memorial for one last look. It is quite beautiful at night, well worth a second stop. There was a moving memorial service to remember those who sacrificed everything for our freedom.

Afterwards, we were visited briefly by Kansas representatives Jerry Moran and Lynn Jenkins. They arrived late and we were freezing by then so they had to visit with us on our tour busses.

It was a long day, but unforgettable for as long as I live. We slept well that night I can assure you. We were fortunate to have an afternoon flight home the next day so we were able to take our time getting on the bus to the airport. It was a long trip home. We drove from Dulles Airport Hilton to the Baltimore Airport. Flew from there to Kansas City. Drove from there three hours to Clifton, KS. As we drew near to our home, we saw this sunset just outside of Clay Center, KS. Probably the most amazing sunset I have ever seen.

They say that we remember an experience by it’s high point and by it’s ending. You can bet with this kind of ending, we will have nothing but fond memories of our trip to Washington DC in the Fall of 2009.

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