A day to Memorialize

I thought I'd take advantage of the fact that I live in DC and hit up some of the Memorial Day activities around town. Last night I went down to the National Memorial Day concert. I sat on the steps of the Capitol while we listened to music, heard from vets and watched some video montages. Admiral Mike Mullen (Chairman of the Joint Chiefs) and Colin Powell were two of the speakers.

One of the guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Notice how the path they've worn on the ground isn't just a stripe, it's a series of footprints because they all step in the exact same place. These guys have the precision down.

President Obama placing the wreath at the Tomb. There was an honor guard from each branch of the military and a drum major with a really big, black fuzzy hat on. We all got baked in the sun while we stood on white marble steps, next to a white marble building and waited for the Pres. to show up. The 21 gun salute wasn't just 7 rifles fired 3 times, it was 1 cannon fired 21 times and it echoed all around the cemetery.

The view back towards DC from Robert E. Lee's old house in Arlington Cemetery. Gotta love that humidity in the air.