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The Schumin Web Salutes America II
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| U.S. Forces | U.N. Forces | |
| Dead | 54,246 | 628,833 |
| Missing | 8,177 | 470,267 |
| Captured | 7140 | 92,970 |
| Wounded | 103,284 | 1,064,453 |
Along this wall, take a moment to remember that every one of these people who fought in this war had a face, and a family, and a future...
"Freedom is not free"
On the way to the FDR Memorial, I ran into this diamond in the rough, which I only got to take a glance at from a distance in the previous edition of The Schumin Web Salutes America, as seen here. This memorial commemorates the residents of the District of Columbia who served, and for some even gave their lives, in the first World War.
Here's a fine unobstructed view of the memorial...
The entire memorial reads:
A memorial to the armed forces from the District of Columbia who served their country in the World War
A quick credit to those who designed this work of architecture...
This pattern is found on the floor, around a central metal section.
The columns stand proud and tall, though not as large as other columns we will and have seen. Unfortunately, there were no other people here for me to photograph with them to give an idea of scale.
Leaving the memorial to go visit the Franklin Roosevelt Memorial, it peeks out from behind the trees...
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was our 32nd President, and ran our country for longer than anyone else before and since, from 1933 to 1945. His presidency was also perhaps the most eventful in American history, with him being elected to help get the country out of the Great Depression, and then saw us through to almost the end of World War II when he died of a brain hemorrhage. Now, there is at last a proper memorial to the President who is featured on the dime, with a personality all its own.
Leaving the DC War Memorial and beginning around the Tidal Basin, we take a peek at things to come...
Meanwhile, the Washington Monument is standing proud across the Tidal Basin from where I'm walking.
Welcome to the FDR Memorial!
I had heard about that there was debate as to whether to show President Roosevelt standing or sitting. Seems that they chose to have him sitting, and according to the FDR Memorial's Web site, he's sitting in a wheelchair similar to that which he actually used.
Near the statue stood this bald eagle on a medallion.
Around the entire memorial, there were signs with quotes from things that FDR said, from the Great Depression to World War II. Here, the quote reads:
No country, however rich, can afford the waste of its human resources. Demoralization caused by vast unemployment is our greatest extravagance. Morally, it is the greatest menace to our social order.
I pledge you, I pledge myself to a new deal for the American people.
In each of the four "rooms" at the FDR Memorial, there was a fountain, each one more complex than the one before it. This is the first fountain.
Meanwhile, across the stone and the Tidal Basin, George Washington stands tall in the distance.
In these days of difficulty, we Americans everywhere must and shall choose the path of social justice, the path of faith, the path of hope, and the path of love toward our fellow man.
Here in a niche on one of the walls is a statue of an American sitting by his radio, listening to one of FDR's radio addresses, more commonly known as "fireside chats".
On one of the copper-and-stone columns we find a set of handprints.
I propose to create a Civilian Conservation Corps to be used in simple work. More important, however, than the material gains will be the moral and spiritual value of such work.
The next fountain is tiered, a step up from the straight-down of the first fountain.
We must scrupulously guard the civil rights and civil liberties of all citizens, whatever their background. We must remember that any oppression, any injustice, and hatred, is a wedge designed to attack our civilization.
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