Memorial Visit Recap

On Thursday, September 27^th we visited two memorials that were located in Manhattan, the Vietnam Veteran memorial and the 9/11 memorial.

The Vietnam memorial was in secluded place. It seemed as if not many people have visited as they would a regular war memorial. I believe this is because of all the mixed feelings surrounding the Vietnam War.

Vietnam War Wall

Once you enter you can see a great big green wall made up of what seems to be dense glass. What’s interesting about the glass is that it seemed to be transparent in some parts, but denser in others.

However, what was certain was that the writing on the glass was from soldiers who were in the war. These writing were mainly from them to their family members. One of them caught my attention more than the others. It was from a soldier who wrote to his father at his office. He explained to him that he wasn’t going to make it and that he wanted his father to relay the message to his mother because the soldier himself couldn’t do it.

On one side of the memorial there was a fountain. If you stood behind it at a certain angle, it almost sounded as if you heard artillery coming from the water.bIt gave me a feeling of what these soldiers had to go through while they partook in the war. Seeing their words on the wall while hearing the similar sounds they heard gave me a feeling of utmost gratitude. It made me thankful for them, to fight for our country’s beliefs and morals.

The 9/11 memorial was much more crowded. I believe this is the case because 9/11 was a more recent tragedy that erupted a worldwide concern. The 9/11 memorial will be forever held as an vital and essential memorial to the people that suffered during the 9/11 attacks.

9/11 Memorial- South Pool

9/11 Memorial- North Pool

Like the Vietnam Veteran memorial, the 9/11 memorial also used water. There were two vast pools of where the towers once stood. Each in the shape of a square, with a inner square of water as well as you can see from the picture above.  The outer square of water seemed to be more chaotic and the inner square of water seemed to be more at peace. I believe this was designed to convey how it really felt the day of the attacks. Outside the towers, people panicked with fear. It was chaos everyone, especially in Manhattan. But on the inside, it was a grim sober place. People were dying and losing hope for survival. It’s almost as if the water conveyed the spirits of the people who perished in the towers that day.

9/11 Memorial- Roses at na

9/11 Memorial- Rose at Name

Something that distinguished the 9/11 memorial from the Vietnam Veteran memorial was that various people placed yellow roses at the names of their loved ones. I watched in amazement as the family and friends placed roses at the names of their loved ones in tears. It then occurred to me the event that transpired on this ground nearly 11 years ago truly rocked the foundation of the world.

Spending time at memorials allows people to reflect about themselves. It allows them to be thankful for the people that sacrificed their lives, to make our lives easier to live by. Memorials allow us to step into the lives of numerous soldiers/civilians for a moment to grasp what they went through. It finally gave me the chance to thank our fallen heroes for committing the greatest acts of bravery the world has ever seen.