Today is June 11th, and we are scheduled to visit the Arlington National Cemetery, World War II War Memorial, and the Iwo Jima War Memorial. After meeting with our workshop groups, we all loaded up the buses and headed for Arlington. As we came up to Arlington, I didn’t realize that were already there. As you drive up there is a large rounded wall monument at the end of cul-de-sac type road. The mood was very solemn and peaceful as you walked into the cemetery. We took a tram through the vast expansion of the cemetery and visited the grave of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, and his family. At his gravesite there is an eternal flame always burning. JFK was buried down the hill from General Robert E. Lee’s home, because a few months before he passed on, he went to the home of the Lee’s and said as he was looking out over the capital city that he could stay there forever. And so when he was buried, Jacqueline remembered what her husband had said, and there was where he was buried. Buried just across the hill is his brother with a white cross marking his grave site. Arlington was a very neat site to see. There are over 300,000 graves and monumental memorials for those who fought and died in our country’s military service. As we were driving through, I looked out over the hills and white columned rows continued out over the hills and there was no end it seemed, and this made me think. It made me think of all those I know in the service, and how thankful I am for their loyalty and dedication to our nation. While we were in Arlington we were able to witness the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown. This was a very precise procedure, and amazing to watch. The guard took 21 steps away from his post, and paused for 21 seconds in remembrance of those lost in battle. This ceremony occurs every thirty minutes in the summer and every hour in the summer. The tomb is guarded out of respect for those lost, and so they will never be alone.
After attending the ceremony we then went to The World War II and Iwo Jima Memorials. The World War II Memorial is a very vast memorial that has three elements representing the three ways the war was fought. Its expansiveness is symbolic of the part of the war that was fought on land. Its height and openness of the circular memorial is symbolic of the part of the war that was fought in the air. And finally the third element was that of water, for the part of the war that was fought on the seas. There are two pillars taller than the rest that are inscribed with the names of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, the two oceans where parts of the war were built. Also representing the oceans are the waterfalls that are in the memorial as well. We also were able to see the Iwo Jima War Memorial. This memorial has six soldiers putting up a flag, and picture that is synonymous with Americans all across the nation. As we visited the memorial, our Delegation Leader from the National 4-H Center, Rachel , read us a letter from a father in the monument to his son, and it describes each of the men, and who they are.
That afternoon, we returned to the 4-H Center, and wrapped up the week with a mock congressional session. Each color group was assigned a topic, and was designated as to whether or not the group was for or against their assigned topic. There were eight groups, and four bills. One of the three bills was passed. The topics discussed were Ethanol and Corn Production, Government Data Mining, Restrictions on Gun Laws, and File Sharing. The bill on Gun Control was the only bill to be passed. In the bill it said that more restrictions were to be put on to be able to purchase a gun. Background checks, special licenses, and gun safety classes are some parts of the bill that were most prominent.
Later that evening we had to opportunity to attend a Baltimore Orioles baseball game, in Baltimore. The Orioles were hosting the Seattle Mariners. The Orioles were leading the game for the first three innings, and then Seattle took the lead, and remained ahead of Baltimore for the remainder of the game. In the third inning, rain down poured on the city, and the game was delayed for about 45 minutes. The field was covered, and then uncovered, which was pretty cool to watch. Also, in the seventh inning, and pop fly was hit to left field, close to where we were sitting, and the Seattle Mariner caught the fly ball, and as he ran into his dugout he tossed the ball into the stands, and our own Kye caught the ball. At the end of the ninth inning, Seattle came out with a win over Baltimore with a final score of six to three (6-3).