Arlington Cemetery

Field after field of white monuments.  It is a sad and confronting place.  So many lives lost.  Such a waste of talent and so many lives lost without proper planning, training or consideration of the outcomes.  Much was done for the right reasons, however, the loss has been staggering.The men and women killed were aged between 17 and 23 on average.

The tomb of the unknown soldier in four wars is guarded 24 hours per day every day of the year, rain, hail, snow, or terrorist attack without fail.  Even of the day of the attack on the Pentagon, the soldiers stayed at their post.  The changing of the guard happens every hour. The guard marches 21 steps along a rubber mat which has foot prints in it from the hours of repetition.  At the end of his 21 steps he turns, changes his weapon from one sholder to the other , waits 21 seconds and returns to the other end, and repeats this for an hour.

Changing of the Guard, Tomb of the unknown soldier. Rain, hail, snow, shine, or  terrorist attack; nothing will stop the soldiers guarding the tomb.

Also saw the monument to commemorate the taking of the the island of Iwo Jima from the Japanese in 1942.

After all that we needed to eat so headed to the Hard Rock Cafe in downtown Washington.

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