A monument is, in my opinion, and important thing. Being a history buff, I always feel we must remember the past. That is the only way to learn, and to bring about a better future. A monument is the best way to visually remind the world of an event. Whether it was a good or bad time, these monuments help us to understand what happened through their architecture and front. We all talked about the monuments here in D.C., so I am going to take us on a 12 hour long plane ride to Hawaii, where one of the saddest monuments I have ever been too exists, the USS Arizona Memorial.
Welcome to Pearl Harbor. The weather is beautiful, and the water is blue. Yet, the loud chatter that generally is heard from tourists is dwindled to whispers as their white boat approaches the oddly shaped white monument. The boat docks and you enter the monument. Everybody gets silent as you enter the monument. Looking down, oil is seen slowly spilling out of the ship below. The ship entombs so many people, and faced with this, the entire crowd silences. The steady sound of the water, the slow flapping of the American flag above, and the boats added to the sadness. However, what really set me off was the wall on the back with all the names of the soldiers and sailors who died.
That monument made me remember how the people died due to an attack. It made me sad and I felt pain for those who died. That is what a monument is supposed to do. I felt like I was mourning for these people with the rest of a nation. A monument is supposed to inspire these feelings. This has happened in a lesser degree in Washington. The only monument that has moved me as much was the WW II monument. That is because of a family connection. Though I am moved by the other memorials, nothing has moved me as much. I guess because in Pearl Harbor, the event actually took place. It was real, and it was there. That was the most moving thing of all.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
You're description of the Pearl Harbor monument was awesome and it made me want to go to it. I had no clue that it was like that. As to your point about the other monuments, I agree that monuments have more of an impact when there is a personal connection, yet since I know of the history of the wars like Vietnam, WW II, and Korean I felt emotionally moved by them all. Actually, I think that the Vietnam monument was the saddest because of the prior knowledge I hold from that war and from reading books about it. I have read books about the other wars, too, but I think that the structure of the Vietnam memorial was the most unpleasant to the eye, and that is why I was so emotionally distraught looking at it.
ReplyDelete