I’ve been to Pearl Harbor twice, and I’d recommend going at least once if you get the chance. It’s definitely a haunting, but memorable experience.
The original day to never forget.
Dec 072004
Sep 112004
I still get that sickening feeling in my stomach when I think about the events of that day. We must never stop pursuing the kinds of people that could cause a repeat of those events, and we must remember always to honor the fallen heroes of that day.
Aug 162004
Jun 072004
My first memory of anything political is the election of 1980. I remember sitting in the back seat of our car and asking my parents whom they had voted for. If I recall correctly, they said Carter (suckers).
I had seen Ronald Reagan speak on TV, and though I really didn’t understand what I was watching, my six-year-old brain knew that I liked the man. Over the next eight years, the rest of the country and I grew to love him as our President. As you watched him on TV, he seemed to speak to each one of us individually, and you could tell he cared about every American.
It was heart-wrenching watching Nancy lay her head down on his casket yesterday. This is the first President that I really remember, and I guess I have some sort of emotional attachment because it made me very sad, especially when they played Hail to the Chief as they pulled his casket out of the hearse. People were stopped on over-passes, clamoring to get a glimpse of the procession, and it seemed the entire country was in mourning as the news coverage showed everyone expressing memories of a great man that had passed.
Sure, every President has their faults, but President Reagan knew what America was all about, was determined to make her great again, and then went about and did that very thing. He was a great leader, a great politician, a great man – one of the best Presidents this country has ever had.
Rest in peace, Mr. President.
Jun 062004
I first had a sense of what D-Day was like after watching Saving Private Ryan, but after reading more about it, I know it was a hundred times worse than that. The events that transpired on June 6, 1944…what those men went through, I don’t think anybody else in history will ever know. It had to seem to them like the proverbial hell on earth.
Someday we plan on going to Normandy to honor those men; we feel it is our duty. God bless all who lie over there, and all of those who made it back alive. I am able to live the life I know today because of all of you.
Feb 242004
So I forget to say what we did for the President’s Day holiday. Actually, it was only a holiday for me; Monica had to work. 
On a side note, the official name is for the holiday is Washington’s Birthday, not President’s Day. If you don’t believe me, read this.
We had plans to do something historical like go to the Manassas battlefield, but we decided sleeping was so much fun that we got up too late. So what to do then? Well, I had the bright idea to do something that we used to do quite frequently. Go into DC and hang out.
It seems everyone else on the entire earth had this same idea.
We drove around forever looking for a parking spot by the museums, but it wasn’t meant to be. So after deciding to just call it a day and head home, a parking spot appears right as Constitution Ave. is ending (down by the Lincoln Memorial).
We had a nice, relaxing time walking round the tidal basin and visiting the Thomas Jefferson memorial, which I think is my favorite of all the memorials in DC. The only downer was all of the dead fish that were floating in the half-frozen tidal basin – very spooky. Aside from that, it was a beautiful day, and we even found a memorial that I had never seen before; it was a neglected World War I memorial to the soldiers from the District of Columbia.
On the actual Washington’s Birthday holiday, I spent most of the day filing our taxes and fiddling with the flaky website on which I filed them. I’m so glad to get those completed, and we’re actually getting a refund. So a Washington’s Birthday well spent.
Jan 192004
Happy Lee-Jackson-King Day!
It’s just a Virginia thing so no one else really knows what that means, but when I was a kid, we celebrated Lee-Jackson-King Day. Not that there was any actual “celebrating” in school, but that’s what I remember the day being called.
Today used to be the day to celebrate the birthdays of Robert E. Lee, Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, and Martin Luther King, Jr. In 2000, Virginia decided to split the holidays so today is officially just King Day while this past Friday was Lee-Jackson Day.
I guess it is kind of silly to lump all three guy’s birthdays on the same day as the first two had nothing to do with the third guy. Maybe they just didn’t want to create any more holidays.
There are alot of people that are “offended” by there being any day to honor Civil War heroes. In Virginia though, Lee and Jackson were icons, and there are alot of people descendant from soldiers that fought for the South, and that heritage is very important to them. To honor them is not to say that you wish there was still slavery, it is to remember that they were Americans who fought and died for their country and a cause in which they believed wholeheartedly.
And today, as you watch and listen to countless newscasts and shows about Martin Luther King, Jr., remember that his dream of a color-blind society is being twisted and warped by many leaders of all colors. Take some time and listen to his words, and see if they actually apply to what’s happening in the world today.
Dec 172003
One hundred years ago today, man first flew.
Hard to believe it’s only been 100 years, you know? I mean, think about what’s happened since then, and it truly blows your mind.
If you’ve never been down to Kitty Hawk to see the Wright Brothers National Memorial or just to check out where history was made, what are you waiting for?
Dec 072003
In remembrance of those who perished on this day 62 years ago.
You can see our personal photos of the Arizona Memorial in the gallery.
Nov 112003
“Armistice Day was primarily a day set aside to honor veterans of World War I, but in 1954, after World War II had required the greatest mobilization of soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen in the Nation`s history; after American forces had fought aggression in Korea, the 83rd Congress, at the urging of the veterans` service organizations, amended the Act of 1938 by striking out the word “Armistice” and inserting in lieu thereof the word Veterans. With the approval of this legislation (Public Law 380) on June 1, 1954, November 11th became a day to honor American veterans of all wars.”
Read more about Veteran’s Day.
