DC Like a Local

photo uploded to flickr by Mr. T in DC

Ahh, springtime in Washington. Between sweltering summers and cold, wet, and icy winters (if not normally mistaken for Buffalo's), spring and fall are DC's most pleasant times of year.

Unfortunately, I'm not alone in thinking this. Every year, millions of folks come down to the Mall, the Zoo, Arlington Cemetery, and other high traffic areas to take in the cherry blossoms and just enjoy the beautiful spring weather. So many, in fact, that I'm enjoying the relative peace and quiet of New York City right now. Times Square is almost pastoral compared to the British soccer riot that the Mall entrance to the Metro is during Cherry Blossom season.

So what to do if you come to DC, have seen the Cherry Blossoms, and don't want to mix it up with the crowds again? Let's take Arlington National Cemetery as an example. I can't say enough good things about that place. Whether you take theTourmobile, walk the main loop, or explore some of the other themes we've suggested, you can't helped but me moved by the weight of sacrifice and grandeur that permeates the place. That is, until you've been jostled with several thousand of your new friends trying to get a glimpse of the Changing of the Guard.

So save Arlington for the fall, when you can give it the attention it so richly deserves, and come visit another DC final resting place, Historic Congressional Cemetery. Tucked away in the back end of Capitol Hill (also known as the awesome part of the Hill), Congressional predates Arlington by over half a century. Never formally run by Congress, it served as ade facto National Cemetery until Arlington stole their thunder.

And that's fine. Part of the charm of Congressional is that it is, in many ways, very much still alive. Arlington's stately grandeur is appropriately enshrined, guarded for that matter 24 hours a day by armed infantrymen. At Congressional, the dead let their hair down a bit. Besides continuing as an active cemetery, Congressional fulfills what was once a commonplace role for urban graveyards; that of a public park. Maintenance is partly funded by fees from users who bring dogs there, local kids romp about, and neighbors just out for a stroll stop and chat among the tombstones. Before the advent of large urban parks (think Central Park in New York), cemeteries often provided the only green space available in dense urban areas. Congressional resuscitates and preserves that tradition, as well as providing a fitting home for generations past.

All fine and good, but why should you come? Well, the history of Historic Congressional Cemetery extends well beyond the local Capitol Hill community. Congressional got its start as the parish burial yard of Christ Church on G St. SE, between 6th and 7th. In Peter L'Enfant's original plan of Washington, graveyards were to be away from the urban center; a break in tradition from European and early American concepts where people were buried in church yard (think Trinity Church in New York), in dense in-fill lots (think Granary Burying Ground in Boston), or in the church itself (Westminster Abbey being the most famous example).

Among it's many other challenges in starting a new nation, the new Congress quickly found that they had to deal with members croaking far from home. They turned to Christ Church, who allowed Congressmen to be interred at the burial ground, and Congress provided cenotaphs, or monuments, for each of their own. While many of these remains were eventually returned home, 19 Senators and 71 Representatives are still buried here. And although it is no longer the fashion for Congressmen to die in DC (and those that do normally return home), the Cemetery occasionally is the still final resting place of Congressmen. Representative TomLantos, the only Holocaust survivor to serve in Congress, has recently been laid to rest here.

Besides members of Congress, Congressional is also home to John Phillip Sousa, the "March King"; J. Edgar Hoover, longtime director of the FBI; Matthew Brady, famed photographer of the Civil War; Eldridge Gerry, only Vice President to be buried in the District and the source of the term "gerrymandering", and many others. And while I could tell you much more, I don't want to ruin the surprise. Free tours are available every Saturday during the Spring, Summer, and Fall (check website to find start/end dates) at 11 am. If you can't make it then, the Cemetery offers self guided cell phone tours (pdf) or stop by the gate house to pick up a pamphlet on one of the many specialty tours. Subjects include the War of 1812, significant women buried here, Native Americans, and several others.

The office is open 9-5:30 Monday through Friday, and 10-1 on Saturday. However, unless there is a funeral, the grounds are open until dusk every day. To get here, take the Orange/Blue line to Potomac Avenue and walk up Potomac to 17th St SE. The Cemetery is the large plot of land filled with grave markers and dead people.

photo by Victoria BelangerTucked into a grove of trees between the World War II Memorial and the Korean Memorial along Independence Avenue is one of Washington's most over-looked Memorials, the District of Columbia War Memorial. Unique for the National Mall, it commemorates the 26,000 Washingtonians that fought in the War, as well as the 499 that died in the process, the only Memorial to commemorate Washington, DC specifically.

Few of my groups visit there, although this may change when the new Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial opens across the street in a year or two. Perhaps that's a good thing, as this Memorial has been slowly falling into greater and greater neglect, even making it onto the DC Preservation League's 10 Most Endangered Sites in 2003. I don't know if folks remember the $200 Million in stimulus money that was for "moving the grass on the National Mall", as some alleged? As is so often lost in the noise, much of the money was to go towards the long overdue maintenance ($400 million worth) of National Park Service sites on the Mall. And if you doubt that's a problem, go walk along the Tidal Basin near the Jefferson Memorial. Bring a bathing suit, as portions of it are now almost permanently underwater.

Which brings me to the deferred maintenance of the DC War Memorial. I've been less than complimentary of the National Park Service from time to time, and will probably be again, but fair is fair. It's not their fault that they haven't been provided funding for upkeep of the Memorial. What are they supposed to do, chip in from their own pockets? No, the fault lies in the big white building at the east end of the Mall.

Now, this blog is not meant to be political, and certainly not partisan, but I find it disgraceful that matters have been allowed to progress so far with a Memorial to almost 500 Americans that died fighting for the country. If I had allowed a ship's bilge to fall into such a state as a very junior officer in the Navy, I would have caught hell (and often did!). Congress has less excuse than I did. I don't know if it's because almost all World War Veterans have passed on, or if it's because it's only DC's memorial, but it's unacceptable. What will happen to the Wall when the Vietnam War passes from living memory? Are Memorials transitory, and only for the recent wars, or are they there to remind future generations of the cost and sacrifice of those that passed before us?

Fortunately, this isn't the end of the story. After loosing the $200 million to "mow the grass", some of that money was reintroduced through the Park Service budget, including $7.3 million for the DC War Memorial. Furthermore, there is a very interesting proposal to turn the DC War Memorial into a National World War I Memorial. I'm not totally convinced, but it bears discussion. On one hand, this is a fitting spot, just feet away from the World War II, Vietnam, and Korean War Memorials. This is the National Mall, kept up (or should be) by the Federal government, and not just my city. And it is right and fitting that a Memorial be built somewhere to commemorate World War I. On the other hand, this Memorial was built by citizens of DC to remember Washingtonians killed in the War. We raised the money privately, and it's a little late to usurp the efforts of local Washingtonians, especially by a government that doesn't allow us a voice in the decision making process.

But enough editorializing. Even in it's current (and soon to be improving) state, the World War I Memorial is worthy of a visit for quiet contemplation. It's a nice little marble bandstand in the woods, best known for it's Dedication, where native Washingtonian John Phillip Sousa conducted the Marine Band. The most notable feature is the listing of the 499 names of the fallen Washingtonians, listed without regard to rank or race. Which was fairly significant for the time, when that's not how they were allowed to serve.

I don't know if you've noticed a common thread as we've been taking you through the history of the various Memorials and Monuments, but you might have picked up by now that, almost uniformly, they all had controversies surrounding the location, design, construction, and so on. Except, to the best of my knowledge, the Korean Veterans Memorial. Perhaps it was forgotten.

But we rebound strongly with our next one, the National World War II Memorial. Obviously, no one objected to the choice to build a memorial honoring those who fought in the Second World War (or at least no one who we have to listen to), but the choice of its location, at the end of the Reflecting Pool, between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial, caused a titanic debate, with some even arguing that its location "defaces a National treasure".

Now I too was skeptical about it's location, but I'm a believer. First off, the final design, that which was ultimately built, is far less obtrusive than the original plan. The built Memorial nicely frames the Washington Monument when viewed from Lincoln. Secondly, as arguably the most pivotal crisis of the 20th Century, World War II very much belongs with our first President and the man who brought us through the Civil War. And finally, it looks a whole lot better than the broken down and deserted fountain it replaced.

I'm less complimentary about another element of its design. The Memorial is flanked by 56 pillars, representing the 48 states and 8 territories that comprised the United States at the time. I don't get this. Unlike the Korean Memorial, where depicting the various races in the sculptures was a nod towards the desegregation of the military, World War II had no specific nexus with the states. Why not list all the counties, while your at it. I understand the whole "we were separate states but came together as one nation" argument, but that's really not a part of the World War II narrative. Once federalized early in the War, even National Guard units rapidly lost much of their state identities, especially when replacement troops began being assigned.

But my aesthetic whining aside, this is a fitting tribute to the overplayed but still valid label of the "Greatest Generation". I've had some rewarding times as a tour guide, but none more so than having the privilege of taking a bus load of World War II veterans there last month. To see their impressions first hand, and to get to hear their accounts, was far more valuable than any stories or tales I could add. As he so often is, Senator Dole was on hand, with his wife Senator Dole, to great the veterans personally. It was a very moving moment. Then my bus blocked Sen. Dole's car in.

While the odds are not bad that you might see the Senator at the Memorial, prudence demands that you have a back up plan for visiting. Yes, yes, go and see your state's pillar. Now that that's out of system, you will of course want to see Freedom Wall, where each gold star represent 100 Americans killed. No, I'm not going to tell you how many there at; count them yourself. The gold star was a symbol displayed in one's house when a family member had been killed in the War; sadly the tradition continues today. Also make sure to see the excellent bas-relief sculptures along the entrance towards 17th St. And, of course, you must go around the back and witness the "graffiti" carved in the rear. Paying homage to the more irreverent nature of the young men and women of the War is an engraved Kilroy Was Here, a critical reminder that in the midst of all the marble and bronze, real people, with human foibles, accomplished so much.

Although the Vietnam Veterans Memorial got off to a rough start, once built it quickly became an American cultural icon. It proved to be incredibly popular and soon became a focal point for healing for all those that lived through those turbulent times.

Witnessing this, veterans of other wars displayed a renewed interest in memorials designed to capture the experience and commemorate all who fought in a specific conflict. Servicemembers who had participated in the Korean Conflict, often called with some justification "the Forgotten War", sought recognition of their sacrifices on the National Mall, and in 1992, the Korean War Veterans Memorial opened.

Now, while to me the Korean Memorial lacks the emotional impact of the Vietnam Wall, it is a very well put together Memorial full of symbolism and visual interest. Built on the opposite side of the Mall from the Vietnam Memorial, it balances the Wall nicely around the Lincoln Memorial. Designed purposely to evoke the Wall, it also contains a polished black granite wall, etched not with names, but with archival photos of servicemembers from the Korean Conflict.

These soldiers, sailors and airmen look out on 19 cast-steel statues, the real focal point of the Memorial. The statues represent 14 soldiers, 3 Marines, an Air Force Forward Air Controller, and a Navy Corpsman (medic for you land-lubbers). But beyond the diversity of the various Armed Forces, lies a more profound expression of diversity. The statues represent every ethnic group found in America, which was particularly fitting as this was the first war that America fought with an integrated military. No longer confined to separate units, the military was integrated well before our schools, by executive order of President Truman.

The number 19 is not random, either. It's half of 38, which has a dual significance as the 38th parallel of latitude that separated the two Koreas and the number of months the War (or technically "Police Action") lasted. Why half? Reportedly, they wanted to do the full number, but were restricted in size. If you look at the right spot, on the lower corner right next to the granite wall, you will see the statues reflected in the wall, right next to the actual ones, making a total of, you guessed it, 38.

Many will claim that this Memorial is best visited at night, and I won't argue with them, but if you get the opportunity, visit the Memorial after a decent snowfall. They're few and far between, at least catching them before the "wintery mix" turns it into ice, but the Memorial is stunning in the snow. The entire Memorial is designed to capture the rugged and hostile nature of the Korean Conflict, with weather at times as much an enemy as the North Koreans or Chinese. A fact which I can personally attest to, having been covered in a sheet of ice on my ship while conducting exercises in South Korea. Among the elements portraying this: the ponchos of the soldiers sculpted in a fluid manner, the gentle rise meant to evoke the rocky terrain, and the rise and fall of the etched faces on the reflecting wall, which when looked at from the distance as a pattern look as if they provide a mountain backdrop to the Memorial.

So perhaps its fitting that today, Veteran's Day, is a cold, wet, miserable day here in DC. Think of it as a good day to get the full Korean War Veterans Memorial experience.