Reflections on Day Five

Today, Monday June 25^th, might have been one of the hardest days of all both physically and emotionally. It was 90 degrees and we walked all throughout DC seeing some pretty amazing things. Going to the memorial at the Pentagon was pretty mind blowing. Thinking about all those benches being replaced by almost 200 people who were friends, family or other loved ones who were either working at the Pentagon or travelling on a plane. All those men, women, and children who never got to see their loved ones again. Another thing that really made me stop and think was the Marine Corps Memorial. Hearing the story of those six brave men definitely made me closely observe every aspect and detail of the statue, and hearing a specific part of the story that Joel read to us something like those who did not return are the real heroes. I’m starting to see things in a completely different perspective now, in a way I cannot describe. Seeing the Lincoln Memorial, all the museums, etc. was great, but the one thing I will never seem to get out of my head is this specific quote “Freedom is not Free.” There are so many ways you could see this, and so many possibilities and so many things to consider. What I took from this was that freedom is not all it seems, nothing can or will ever be completely 100% free, there will always be another obstacle, another step, one last task. Thank you so much for allowing me to experience this,

- Marisabel R.

The date was June 25, 2012, and we all went to Arlington National Park to see the graves, changing of the guard, the Kennedy’s grave site, and the mast of the USS Maine. I was very sad to see all the men and women who were dead who fought for us in the war. After Arlington we went to the Pentagon to see the memorial. The day it happened was September 11, 2001 9:37AM. There were benches placed in opposite directions on the grounds. Some benches represented the way the plane flew into the Pentagon. There were names and dates of the people who died. We also went to the Vietnam memorial. There were a lot of names, it was definitely more then I expected. People put roses near the names. Next we went to the Korean War memorial. There were statues of men from the Korean War who were wearing ponchos and walking through rice patties. Last but not least we went to the Marine Corps Memorial. Joel told us a story about a group from Wisconsin who met a guy whose father was the last guy to raise the flag. I was very emotional after Joel told the story, and when I looked up at that statue I teared up.

- Noah M.