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Here’s a little wrap up of highlights in pictures from this past Memorial Day Weekend in DC.  I’ll have the full gallery of images on my events site soon.

I like to start off the weekend with the rehearsal for the Memorial Day Concert at the Capitol.  I prefer the rehearsal to the live taping because it’s more relaxed, spontaneous and the performers are free to interact with the crowd.  You still need to get there early to get a good view but it’s a fun way to spend the evening in preparation for the show. 

The program always honors the military service members past and present and is a great way to pay tribute to all those who serve.  It starts off with the Presentation of Colors. 

Gary Sinise and Joe Mantegna have been co-hosting the event for the last 5 years.

Lionel Richie was one of the performers for the evening.

Gary Sinise  and Dennis Haysbert dramatically recount the story of PFC Charles Johnson, Killed in Action while fighting in North Korea at the age of 20 on June 12, 1953.  He died protecting a bunker of wounded soldiers so they could live.

Gary Sinise announces the various military services for the Service Song Salute.  Always moving to watch individuals from the crowd stand up at attention for their song.  Reminds me of how you never know the person next to you could be someone who has served in the military for our collective freedom and safety, but goes about their daily lives unnoticed.

An atypical sight: the POW Flag at the Capitol.  Must mean Rolling Thunder is in town!  

After hours of approximately 200,000 motorcycles rumbling through DC in a circle from the Pentagon, around the Mall, to the Lincoln Memorial steps, Rolling Thunder held a rally with a variety of speakers concluding with a concert.  This was my first Rolling Thunder event and I was pretty moved.   It all started in the 80’s as way to remind people that abandoned American soldiers in th Vietnam war not forgotten and has now taken on a broader set of current issues, in essence still embracing and supporting all servicemen, those who have returned as well all MIA’s and POW’s.

This poor fellow sat the whole time in a cage that was similar to what the POW’s were kept in.

What would a gathering of Vietnam Vets be without Nancy Sinatra singing “These Boots Are Made For Walking!”  Pretty impressive to see her.  She wasn’t up for doing the boots dance, weary bones she said.  After all she’s turning 70 this week!  Instead she enlisted some volunteers and no I was not one of them, too busy taking pictures.  But I would have loved to!  Here she is belting out that famous song and mingling with the Vets. 

One my great joys in life is seeing fireworks, and as up close as possible.  I love seeing and feeling the big bangs.  I recently discovered that Wolf Trap  has a great military inspired  fireworks display set to music.  First they first have a concert with “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band and then afterwards they blast off the fireworks to a medley of music from selections of their upcoming concerts for the summer.  Not a bad way to market I must say!

On Memorial Day itself, DC was host to National Memorial Day Parade on Constitution Avenue, which only started in 2005, as a way of honoring all those who all those who have served in uniform from the American Revolution to Operation Iraqi Freedom.  It was a great way to experience living history and thank many Veterans in person.

General Peter Pace, USMC- Retired, was the Grand Marshal.

For the boy pushing the broken down car who found me afterward to see if his photo was going to be in the internet…  Hope you got to see it!

One last stop was the Vietnam War Memorial where earlier that day Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was the keynote speaker and laid the first wreath.

This was special to see: Vietnamese laying “Thank You” wreaths.

The Vietnam Women’s Memorial  by sculptor Glenna Goodacre,  is a fairly new addition. It shows women in uniform tending to a wounded soldier while one looks up anticipating a rescue helicopter.   I’m sure this will inspire women for generations and bring healing to those women who served.

The Three Servicemen Statue is now under restoration but it doesn’t stop people from getting a glimpse. 

I wanted to close with some images of remembering the fallen from past and present wars.

 

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  • Thereasa Gargano - June 4, 2010 - 1:09 am

    Gone but never forgotten. Semper Fi

Posted in Happenings,Inspirations

“Flags In” at Arlington National Cemetery  is something I’ve always wanted to see and this year I did.  It is a unique tribute to the fallen where members from the Armed Forces volunteer to place more than 250,000 flags at each grave stone before the Memorial Day weekend.  The whole event only took a few hours and was amazingly poignant.  Many times I was overwhelmed with tears.

Below are some images from the day with individual explanations.  I invite you to share with me this profound experience of gratitude for our service men and women.  I’ll close with a special tribute for a particular young Marine who lost his life 3 years ago this week in Iraq.

Here the soldiers receive instructions on how to place the flags.  The youngest was given the honor of placing the first one.  The camaraderie and awareness for the significance of what they were about to do was palpable.

Each flag is carefully measured to be exactly one boot length and centered in front of each grave stone.

The cemetery looks very dignified as it is “decorated” with flags, recalling the original name for Memorial Day, “Decoration Day.”

I came upon a group of wounded warrior Marines, and became emotionally overwhelmed watching them work through their handicaps while inserting each flag, and then devoutly saluting each veteran’s headstone.

Section 60 is where the latest veterans are buried and the last to be decorated.  Those same Marines I saw came to this area after they were done to visit with their fallen friends.  At this point for me, it became more than paying respect to history but paying respect to those who are still dying for use today.

This image shows a young Marine who moved me beyond words.  He came to visit what must have been his friend’s grave.  After sitting, praying, saluting, over an extended period of time, he reluctantly began to walk away, but then came back again and sat some more.  Then it started to rain.  This image was that moment.  The heaviness of his heart pierced mine.

To end the day I visited the Tomb of the Unknowns.  It is guarded 24/7 by specially trained members of the 3rd United States Infantry (The Old Guard).

On my way out I came upon a small marker dedicated to the Military Chaplains; what an important service they provide.

A Tribute to David

I wanted to close with a tribute to my friend’s brother, Lance Corporal David Paul Lindsey, USMC, who died in Iraq at the age of 20 on May 25th 2007.  It’s hard for me to even write this without welling up because of the emotions it stirs up, but I wanted  to share something of David’s sacrifice to bring home a little more of what we are commemorating this weekend.

At David’s funeral services there were a profusion of photo collages, full of living memories of this incredible family that raised this extraordinary young man.  I’ll share two with you here.

This one of my friend, Natalie, with David, was right before he deployed for Iraq, less than 6 months before he died.  It was the last time she saw her little brother.  In the right corner you see David as a beautiful little boy.

I loved this image also of David with his adoring sisters.

I wanted to close with this image of David’s flag draped coffin and some of his own words from letters he wrote home to his family.  I hope they inspire you as they do me.

From a letter David had sent home on January 30th; after he had been in Iraq 17 days:

“We have been watching Flags of our Fathers. It’s about the Marines on Iwo Jima and the flag-raising on top of the mountain. I tell you where the U.S. troops were outnumbered and had the disadvantage but still went face to face with danger and still took the objective; those men and women are true American heroes (like pops). I know Vietnam was bad, but that didn’t stop Dad. And this is my promise to y’all. Iraq is bad, but it isn’t going to stop me (like father, like son.) I’m out here on the front lines so y’all can sleep in peace tonight.”

From another letter he wrote home during training over Thanksgiving.

“I am down here for y’all and for my friends. I am willing to miss some holidays so other Americans can enjoy them … I will do my best defending America — even if it means with my life.”

A profound thank you to you, David.  I think of you often when I go to sleep because people like you, who gave their all, have made it safe for me to do so.  May you now rest in peace in the loving arms of our Father in heaven.

Additional Notes:

If you’ve never experienced a funeral service at Arlington, at the link below I have images from a funeral that I photographed with explanations of the iconic elements and traditions used to lay to rest our service men and women.

Burial Service at Arlington

You might also like:

Flags In 2015

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  • Tom Wieczorek - May 28, 2010 - 9:10 pm

    These images are incredible and very moving. We don’t always see what happens “behind the scenes.” May the men and women who have died for our freedom rest in peace…and let us never forget their sacrifices.

  • Zoe - May 28, 2010 - 9:56 pm

    Beautiful, Renata. The pics with their descriptions brought tears to my eyes. Memorial Day fills me with a range of thoughts and emotions… mostly gratitude, however, for those who do such a dirty and dignified job on behalf of us all.

  • Joe Henzler - May 31, 2010 - 11:26 am

    The pictures are beautiful. I am especially moved by your tribute to David. God bless them all.

Posted in Inspirations

Just heard about this wonderful event!  In Rome on Pentecost, rose petals are dropped from the Pantheon’s oculus to symbolize the Holy Spirit descending on Mary and the Apostles.  One more grand event to experience that I must add to my life’s to-do list! 

The video on YouTube is a must see!  Can’t smell the roses, but it sure gives you a sense of what it must be like to be showered with sweet petals representing the sweet flames of the Holy Spirit descending upon us, enkindling and renewing out hearts.  That’s “Veni Creator Spiritus“ being chanted in the background of the video too.  So beautiful!  There’s also a white dove that circles down at the 1.17 minute mark!  Come Holy Spirit, Come!

Here are some still images from a blog post that I found.   Enjoy!

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Posted in Friday Photo Tips

Since I love shallow depth of field so much, I thought I’d put my own Friday Photo Tip exercise from last week on wide apertures into practice for myself. 

Last Saturday I had a lovely outing at an historic stone manor in Maryland, built in the 1700’s.  We have a friend, Howard, who is renting the “servant’s quarters” at the manor and while he gave us a little tour of the renovations at the property, I was busy clicking away, challenging myself to only use one lens and at very shallow depths of field.    

Howard also owns some horses that are conveniently boarded across the road at Tranquility Farm Equestrian that we were able to have a ride on.   It was such a lovely day.  Walking through thigh high grass, exploring an old historic house, riding a horse in an open field, and sipping tea on the porch, was a perfect get away day from DC paced life.    Thank you Howard and Sarah! 

Here are some of my favorite images from the day.  Enjoy!

 

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  • Zoe - May 22, 2010 - 5:55 pm

    Love these!

  • Renata - May 25, 2010 - 9:24 am

    Thanks!

Posted in Happenings

This morning I attended the “Celebration of Life” breakfast with Sarah Palin in Washington, DC.  It was held at the Ronald Reagan Building and was organized by the Susan B. Anthony List.  I have never heard Sarah speak, nor have I ever attended a Susan B. Anthony event.  So I was ripe for first impressions.

I saw many of my pro-life friends in attendance, so I immediately felt right at home as it seems Sarah did as well.  She was very joyful, passionate, articulate and great to listen to.  Probably the highlight of her talk for me was when she talked about her son Trig with Down Syndrome and the blessing and joy that he brings to their lives.  One sweet story was about her going to get Trig up in the mornings.  She said that even with all his challenges, she was amazed to find him always beaming and clapping.  She reflected on how that would be a great way to start anyone’s day, and that her little boy, whom many thought would be an obstacle, ends up teaching her what’s most important in life, by keeping her daily challenges in perspective.

It was great to finally see her speak in person.  And it was also refreshing to see a strong female politician, embodying authentic femininity in both her ideas as well as appearance.  A true feminist is pro-life.  And she doesn’t try to hide the fact that she is a woman, either by her modest exterior dress or by her interior/hidden potential to bear children and then love them into life.  Femininity is an extraordinary gift, and yet the feminist ‘movement’ seems to be all about the things that are opposite of being authentically feminine.  Sarah does seem to have that feminine ‘it’ factor and captures a lot of attention.  Whatever her flaws and faults may be that people like to debate about, she does bring something very refreshing to the table.  Young girls, (and there were many in attendance that came with their parents or with school groups), have someone and something new to look up to.  In this culture of de-feminizing the woman, it’s great for them to see a strong woman in the political arena that is  sounding, acting and looking like a woman with authentic feminine values.  It’s always a good reminder as well that Susan B. Anthony, whom many feminists claim as their inspiration, was actually pro-life.

So there you go, not my typical blog post but those were some of my thoughts at the breakfast while I was rather busy clicking away taking pictures.  Here are some of the highlights from the breakfast.  Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of SBA-List, introduces the day’s events and Sarah Palin.  To see the rest of the photos, follow this LINK.

 

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