Midwest/East coast trip, day 10

Day 10: National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center and wandering the Capitol Mall.

I've always wanted to visit the Air and Space museum and that was before the Udvar-Hazy Center was built. Having now been to Udvar-Hazy, I still want (need?) to get to the Air and Space museum but that would require more time than we'll have in the Washington DC area.



On the drive to DC, we see a big Sikorsky helicopter and in an instant wonder if it's Marine One. In the next five seconds, I grab my camera, remove the lens cap, turn it on, roll down the car window and click four images. I was lucky since it was flying left to right and I was in the front passenger seat. This is the best image I captured. Sorry, no rotor blur as the camera was in automatic mode. I really didn't think I'd be taking pictures at sixty miles per hour on the freeway :-)



The Udvar-Hazy center is fantastic and definitely on any airplane nut's must see list of museums. The crowds were extremely light and we spent around four hours wandering the exhibits and taking pictures. With three levels, you have a variety of views and it's obvious that much thought went into how and where to position each aircraft, spacecraft, missile, and satellite. To see everything, you really need to walk each of the levels.

My personal favorite since my Dad flew the F-105 in Vietnam. Their F-105D is predominantly displayed on the museum floor along with several other Vietnam era aircraft. I like the fact that this (and every display at Udvar-Hazy) is uncluttered so that you get great views of the aircraft. I believe this is the sixth F-105 I've seen on the trip.































After Udvar-Hazy, we headed to DC as I wanted to see the Vietnam memorial. Little did I realize that we'd see much more since it is located on the Capitol Mall. Our trusty GPS guided us to the DC area and we found a spot to park near the Lincoln Memorial. We wandered from the Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Monument. They were out of tickets to go into the Washington Monument so we walked back through the WWII memorial then made our way to the Vietnam Memorial and eventually to the Korea Memorial.

Going through all of the war memorials certainly causes one to pause and reflect upon the tremendous sacrifices made by those serving in our armed forces and their families. Say what you will about whether we should or should not have been involved in the various wars but the fact remains that thousands upon thousands of people serving in our military faced the horrors of war and way too many gave their lives in the process. Each person was doing the jobs they were assigned, whether they volunteered or were drafted. It didn't matter, they went, many died, and they all deserve our respect.

The closest I've ever been to facing the results of a war was when I was five years old and my Dad was flying the F-105 in Vietnam. I can still remember exchanging reel to reel tapes and hearing the different tone in his voice when he'd just come back from a hairy mission and with a battle damaged aircraft. My Dad was one of the lucky ones but he personally knows several of the names on the Vietnam wall.




To all of our veterans and current active duty personnel, I say thank you for serving our country so that we can enjoy the freedoms we have today.

To those who served in Vietnam and came home to a nation that, for the most part, failed to recognize your accomplishments and sacrifices, I think you guys/gals were robbed of the respect you deserve. Thank you for serving in an unpopular war, in one where our government and military leaders created an environment where winning seemed impossible. You have my deepest respect.