At the Wall
Although the main purpose of my recent trip was to visit both panda families at the San Diego Zoo and the National Zoo in Washington, DC, I made time to visit a very special wall when I was in the American capital during the second half of my trip.
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This was not my first visit to the Wall. I was last there 16 years ago during my month-long trip around the States before returning home.
Both times (1990 and 2006), I was there around Veterans’ Day (11 November), and both times, there were lots of wreaths in front of the Wall and on the ground nearby. This time, there were even single flowers pushed into the wall joints as near as possible to the names the flowers were dedicated to.
This time, as before, I had problems finding the site. The first time, I’d never been and needed directions, while the recent visit happened 16 years later so my memory of its location has faded. In fact, I never thought I would get to visit the Wall again.
Washington, DC, is a city full of monuments, and the Wall is probably the most understated of the monuments there. Located to the left of the Lincoln Memorial, it is built very close to the ground and doesn’t stand out at all and therefore cannot be seen from a distance until you come very close and are almost upon it. Then, when it finally shows itself, what stands out most is its stretch of black granite carved with the names of soldiers who had died, or are still missing, fighting in the Vietnam War, and the mirror-like surface reflecting the images of the surrounding trees, lawns, monuments, and visitors.
This time, as the first time, I was once again touched by the stark but powerful design of the Wall.
