I am a lucky gal! Not too far from the National Mall where I can hop on a bike and go riding the sites to see beautiful statues, art and scenery. The Mall is so big, there's plenty to see. Come on aboard, mates, for a wonderful time, corona-free, on a Sunday afternoon. Or, anytime.
Happy Memorial Day to veterans everywhere! We thank you.
Our first stop was in Bolivar Gardens a block north of the National Mall where Virginia, C and 18th streets meet in Washington, D.C. This park was named after "the Liberator" Simon Bolivar (1783-1830).
The Republic of Venezuela gave the statue to the U.S. in 1958 which is across the street from the Pan American Union Building of the Organization of American States. Felix de Weldon designed it and the Iwo Jima Memorial.
Here, General Bolivar, proud centerpiece of the park, leads troops to freedom from Spain which formerly occupied what is now Venezuela, Bolivia, Columbia, Equator, Peru, and Panama.
Near General Bolivar and the Lincoln Memorial is the Vietnam Veterans Memorial with the names of 58,318 veterans who died as a result of the war. Some 3,000,000 persons visit the memorial every year, designed in blind competition by Yale University student, Maya Lin (b. 1959)/Photo by Patricia Leslie
Between the WWII and the Lincoln memorials and not far from the Korean War Veterans Memorial, is the District of Columbia War Memorial which lists in alphabetical order the names of all 499 District men and women who died in World War I service. Not rank, not race, nor gender is important at this memorial.
The website at the National Park Service says the structure is big enough to accommodate the U.S. Marine Corps band and was built as a bandstand for concerts to honor the war dead.
General John J. Pershing and John Philip Sousa, the former conductor of the Marine Corps Band, were among the thousands who attended or listened to live radio coverage of the ceremony when President Herbert Hoover dedicated the War Memorial on Armistice Day, November 11,1931.
For years the memorial stood unattended, in poor condition, hidden in trees, unseen by many, neglected and languishing until 2010 when a $3.6 million grant paid for its restoration. Since then, the roof (below) has deteriorated and needs work.
The D.C. War Memorial on the National Mall with a rusty canopy, in need of refurbishment/Photo by Patricia Leslie
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt summoned his friend, Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter, and told him that if a memorial were erected to the president, FDR would like it to be about the size of his desk, please, nothing fancy, but a location at the corner of the U.S. National Archives would be nice. And so it was, dedicated on the 20th anniversary of President Roosevelt's death, April 12, 1965 on Pennsylvania Avenue.
The Vietnam Women's Memorial/Photo by Patricia Leslie
Yes! Get on that bike and ride, have fun, and learn a thing or two. (Read other recent posts "on the Mall": the delay of the dedication of the Eisenhower Memorial and a sad Earth Day Park.)
patricialesli@gmail.com
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