WWII MEMORIAL

The WWII Memorial Community

This is a site dedicated to the WWII Memorial and the veterans who preserved our way of life during WWII.  I'm Stephen R. Brown, a photographer who had the opportunity to do a book called "WWII Memorial: Jewel of the Mall" . The book is available everywhere on the Washington Mall except the WWII Memorial.   I post images of Memorial events, WWII Veterans meeting with Senator Dole on Wednesday and Saturday evenings. THESE IMAGES ARE FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY AND NOT FOR PUBLICATION(or external linking) unless you get it in writing.

Public Service Announcement and TV documentary on WTTG

On August 20th, DC's WTTG Fox 5 TV will have a television crew working on a piece for broadcast. Senator Dole, Earl Morse and Jeff Miller will be joining Jeanmarie Kapp, Chicago, Jan Merrick, Cleveland and Dee Pakulski, Northwest Ohio and 160 vets and 100 guardians at the Memorial.  It should be very interesting.

Prior to that, Senator Dole will be doing an interview between 8:30 and 9AM at Fox tomorrow and then a PSA for Honor Flight between 9 and 9:30AM!  This was a very interesting communal effort spearheaded by Jeff Miller whom I am sure will be happy to have it done with. After the PSA taping, we will then head down to the Memorial with Senator Dole who will be there for about an hour and leaving for North Carolina.  He has a lot more stamina than I.  This may require a speeding ticket and unfortunately a parking ticket!  TBA: Will those "Media Credentials work? Rumor is you get two tickets if you show a media pass on the window!

My friend Doug Wilkes (all-time award winning White House News Photographer cameraman) set up the PSA for us through his station manager Duffy Dyer.  What a guy!!!  Kudos to Mike Marshall, Marion Watkins and Dawn Lofreddo of Senator Dole's office.  Susan Barr of Honor Flight, Becky Monroe of the VA and Judy Lemmons, the "Ms. Manners" of Honor Flight are working with with Walter Ohlman and his agency to get the spot out onto the networks. And the whole PSA only lasts 52 seconds!!!  I'm glad we weren't doing Moses parting the Red Sea!  More manana....

World War II Database

 

I discovered the "World War II Database" while routing about the web.  If you are traveling to the WWII Memorial or just interested in WWII, there are plenty of facts to enhance your veteran's experience.  It's interesting that there are so many independent scholars out there working to expand our information resources.

As Peter says in his About Page, "It was no more than my personal notebook in which I kept notes and copies of photographs about WW2. With a relational database model, I was able to connect people, events, photographs, and other elements of history with ease, and the content of this database quickly grew. In Oct 2004, I began exploring the possibility of sharing my notes over the web, thus born the foundations of the website that eventually opened to the public on 28 Dec 2004.

It has only been several years since the site had been in existence, and the content is still far from complete. I continue to add notes to this website on a regular basis, hoping that visitors will find the information useful and interesting. Although I am proud of this continuously growing site, I do not recommend this site to be used for academic research; this site remains no more than the extension of my own personal history notebook, and it has not been reviewed by any subject matter expert."

He is extraordinarily modest about his achievements and there will follow ups as time goes on.

Columbus and Dayton Honor Flights

Honor Flight Dayton led by Jim Salamon and Honor Flight Columbus lead by Bobbie and Bill Richards swung through the Memorial yesterday and were as usual greeted by Senator Dole.  Both Susan Barr and Dave Bauer were along to direct the festivities.  The pictures are available and downloadable for free at the WWII Memorial Photo Site.

Unstoppable: George Kerestes

George Kerestes is one of our Nations's most outstanding citizens and is on hand every Saturday to greet visitors and talk up the Memorial.  He works at the Department of Energy and walks at lunchtime, sometimes adorned in a red, white and blue tie to get his "constitutional" and say hello to a few visitors and veterans.  He's a volunteer for the National Park Service and brings an energy and enthusiasm to his volunteer work that is contagious.  thanks George!! He and several other volunteers, most notably Dan Arrant, contribute a great deal to the visitor experience.

Unflappable

Much like the National Park Service, the so-called Canadian Geese have immigrated to the United States and sit fat and happy enjoying the largesse of the American People.  The leadership of the Park Service are currently asking for 50 million they claim they need to "maintain" the National Mall. They might try selling books at the WWII Memorial. Currently, the only literature available is at least l/2 mile away. The Visitors Center to the South of the Memorial has twenty plus windows and plenty of room for literature. 

I have made a proposal to them which would enable me to lower the price of WWII Memorial: Jewel of the Mall book and further the National Park Service's "interpretive role". They would also pull in a couple of hundred thousand for themselves lessening their need at the public trough.  I guess they don't need the money after all! 

Unfortunately, it looks like the folks in the "country club" (check out the imported luxury cars in the lot...) on Haines Point would have to get off their duffs and be a bit creative. If you feel the book should be sold at the Memorial, write Christopher Jarvi, Associate Director of the National Park Service.  

Technology and Art

Towards the opening days of the Memorial, much of the stone work was finished and the fountains were being tuned.  The eagles were being welded together and you could sit up amongst them on a scaffold.   I spent almost two weeks photographing the welding which was very carefully done by Apex Piping.   All the welds were examined by a robot whith contained an x-ray machine.  Each of the eagle's "beaks" is the structural weld point for the "ribbon" (a 2x6 inch cold rolled piece of steel) which holds the laurel wreath in the center.  Each of the eagles weighs 18000 pounds and the laurel wreath weights 12000 pounds.

It was just Spring and we would take breaks to watch the water "tuners" set up the pumps for the waterfalls and fountains. The pumps are tuned to a small weather station on the North side which controls the height of the fountains depending on the wind conditions. And every day, the Memorial became more finished and I was able to take "wider pictures" and begin the "beauty" portion of the project.

Presidential Guards

As I strolled onto the Mall, I saw a well-organized group of joggers on the other side of the Mall and thought to myself:  "We could use that nice bright color for our pictures!"  Well, if wishes were photographs, you'd get this. It turns out the Navy Presidential ceremonial guard was out for some "exercise" and stopped by to get together with our WWII Veterans and Senator Dole. It was a hoot as this top of the line group of men and women joked and talked with the WWII veterans and made an interesting morning even better.  

Columbus flight finds sponsorship

Ms. Mary Marta and her dad Frank Perone pose with Senator Dole.  Mary was so moved by Honor Flight that she sponsored not only this whole flight but the next flight in two weeks.  Generosity like this has enabled Bobbie and Bill Richards to schedule three more flights this year our of Columbus.  It started off looking like a "slow" morning and the ground crew was anticipating a short day.  

Wrong again!!!  Senator Dole was in a "shaking good mood" and if there was a person on the Mall who's hand he didn't shake, I didn't see them.   The weather was unusually cool and delightful and Bill's flag ceremony went off very well. Susan Barr who founded the Columbus group was along for the ride and it was nice to see her help with the organization.  We were able to get a nice group shot of both guardisns and veterans with Senator Dole.

Ray Kaskey Website

If you have some extra time before your next trip to the Memorial, take a visit to sculptor Ray Kaskey's website. Ray is without doubt the most "monumental" sculptor on the planet today and the articles on his website detail some interesting aspects of his career.  "Near saves" when the town of Portland raised a few hundred thousand dollars to get Portlandia to Portland. It also involved shipping the 43 foot high statue by train (it fell of in Texas), by boat up the West Coast and then by barge up the river and then removing the powerlines for a seven mile parade to it's current location in Portland...the sculpure is aptly called" Portlandia" and is modeled on his wife Sherry....a good friend and old studio buddy. 

Ray's a hard-working artist and he says the truest quote (about art) he ever heard came from painter Chuck Close, who told a radio interviewer: " 'Inspiration is for amateurs. You just get started and hope something will happen.' "-the Washington Post

Bluegrass rules

There was some rain in the DC area last night and Brian Duffy of the Bluegrass Honor Flight called to say they'd be a bit late but everything worked out fine.  Honor Flights have been lucky with the weather and Brian's group was no exception. They managed to get to the Memorial in record time just as Senator Dole had finished up with the Michigan group and got to lunch in the shade. After Senator Dole left, they got together at the Kentucky Pillar and said a prayer for our good fortune as a country.  Seeing everyone assembled and the enormous good will of the rangers and public, it seems we should be giving a lot of thanks.  Rangers Tom More and Marisa Richardson took some time out from their regular duties to help us out when the crowds got thick around the Senator. Thanks very much!!!