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D.C. holds memories of war, more

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Steve Otto

sotto@tampatrib.com

Published: June 10, 2009

It wasn't so much that we were watching our son in a kickball game, as that the game was being played on the great, grassy National Mall about 50 yards from the Washington Monument.

Not only that, it was the anniversary of D-Day, and a couple of hundred yards away, streams of people were descending on the magnificent World War II Memorial.

There was something, well, American about the half-dozen games going on around the mall at this most American of places.

I'd felt the same way when I saw the street hockey game taking place on the blocked-off plaza in front of the White House. It added a soothing counterbalance to the protest groups chanting their slogans.

A defining moment

I wandered over to the World War II Memorial. Located at the east end of the great reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial, its huge granite columns and fountains seem a fitting tribute to this defining moment of the 20th century.

On this D-Day anniversary, the memorial was crowded with visitors who obviously were from that "greatest generation." Many were in groups, all wearing identifying matching T-shirts.

There is a national program called Honor Flight that flies in World War II veterans to spend the day at the memorial.

I mixed in with a group of about 50 veterans from Columbus, Ohio. Many were using wheelchairs or walkers. They gathered in pairs or small groups to have pictures taken. You could hear snippets of those veterans' memories about their experiences more than 60 years ago.

It's a moment that in not too many years will be a sweet memory itself as that generation passes on. You wonder about visitors to this site in the future and how they will react to the cold granite columns that only mention the great battles as statistics and distant names, without the benefit of the shared experiences of those who were there to breathe life into the monuments.

America's attic

The kickball game was over, and our son, who lives in Washington, walked with us across the mall to the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. One of the things I love about this place is that there are always new displays dragged out of what is called America's attic. This time, they had Julia Child's kitchen, and that oddly pitched voice of hers was everywhere as you watched clips from her TV cooking shows.

We wandered through the "price of freedom" exhibit about the cost of war and the American experience from the pre-Revolutionary War days up to our post-Sept. 11 world and the war on terrorism.

As impressive as it was, one thing I noticed was the short shrift Florida gets in Colonial history.

It makes you appreciate just a little more our new Tampa Bay History Center, which more accurately points out that if we aren't exactly the center of the universe, some important things did happen here.

Now those things are on display for everyone to see, even those Yankees who think New England has a lock on history.

Keyword: Otto Graphs, for more of Steve Otto's musings.

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