The US Navy Memorial in Washington DC
GPCox with his blog Pacific Paratrooper has been such an encouragement for a long time. This post is not about the paratroopers but about the beautiful, U.S. Navy Memorial in Washington D.C.
I was looking for the National Archives with the original documents written by the Founding Fathers and stumbled upon the Navy Memorial. It’s huge and hard to capture in a picture.
The large memorial shows The Atlantic sea, The Pacific and the countries where WWII took place. At certain occasions, the water in the fountains is from the Pacific Ocean at one side and The Atlantic, at the opposite side. A copper frieze on a stone wall encompasses the memorial and shows all the branches of the Navy.
US Navy Memorial Quote by Teddy Roosevelt
The motives at the sculptured wall are hard to find on the internet, and my pictures are not perfect as the sun and shadows interfered. I haven’t caught the order exactly right, and sometimes the inscriptions are not present in my photos, but you can see the variations of brands during the history of the US Navy.
I am attracted to memorials, and we visited this one twice on our recent trip to DC. The last time was a few days before July Fourth, and in that occasion, the fountains spring with seawater from both the Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean. Navy veterans or active mariners visited the Memorial while we were there and it gave extra meaning to us. At a corner is the Visitor Centre which is like a museum about the Navy, history and remarkable people serving in the Navy.
The Lone Sailor
At the edge of the sea, The Lone Sailor represents every one having served in the Navy. In his look, I could feel the sacrifice of being at sea away from friends and family.
The architect behind Washington D.C. wanted a navy memorial from the start. The vision was not fulfilled until 1986 on J.F. Kennedy’s initiative.
Categories: History, Travelling, USA
From one Heart to Another 
Maria, you did a fantastic job here. I love that slide show! I am so thrilled that your visit met up with your expectations!
All my best to Henry!
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I am so glad you can see the sculptures in the slideshow. If you know the names of the brands without the description, I would be happy to add that
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I’ll try, wish my cousin, the Navy man was here with me.
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I wish I could fly over and takes better photos and in the right order
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