A thank you in D.C.

I was headed to Washington D.C.  A place I had only read about and seen pictures of.  I couldn't wait to get out there and experience it for myself.  We were taking the most legit family vacation I have ever been on.  My grandpa had an Army reunion with some men from his battery and it was being held in D.C.  None of us had ever been there, so my grandparents, two aunts, my parents, my brother and myself were headed east.  We were going to meet up with two other couples there for the reunion.  My sister and brother-in-law joined us too.

We went during one of the hottest weeks of the summer.  Most of the time were were there, it was around 100 degrees.  Despite the heat, I kept getting chills.  I got chills the first day when we went to Arlington.  This picture is one of my favorites taken at the Old Amphitheatre.

Not only did this give me chills, but seeing the solemn soliders at the Changing of the Guard did too.

We saw a lot of monuments and memorials that day.  I got chills being at the feet of Lincoln and then to look down towards the Reflecting Pool to the World War 2 Memorial and the Washington Monument beyond that.  We saw most of the memorials twice, at night and in the day time.  I can't even explain that feeling of reaching the Korean Memorial.  My grandpa, along with Mac and Dave and many others, were drafted to fight in Korea.  I got chills when they saw it for the first time. 

We also went to the World War 2 Memorial.  My Grandpa Goudy fought in this war.  He was there the day they stormed the beaches, but luckily, he did not have to get off his boat.  It gave me chills knowing that he never got the chance to see the memorial for a war he fought in.

The next day, we went back to the memorials and spent more time at each.  Grandpa, Mac and Dave had been wearing their Veteran hats the whole trip.  They had been stopped from time to time and thanked for their service.  When we got to the Korean Memorial agian, they were getting thanked every few feet.  We took another picture of all three of them in front of the memorial.

I forgot to mention that there were 45,000 Boy Scouts there didn't I?  When we were finished taking pictures, the Boy Scouts filed by shaking each man's hand and thanking them for their service.

Despite the heat, I got chills again.  This meant so much to Grandpa, Mac and Dave as well as all of us who were along.

I want to take this time to thank all Veterans and Active-Duty for their service.  Sometimes, people like these cannot get thanked enough.