WWII MEMORIAL: Jewel of the Mall

Canton Akron and Elizabeth Dole

Just as I had herded all the Canton Akron cats into my frame, along came Mrs. Dole tothrow some light on the image. She has taken over for Senator Dole and her presence is as large as his. She is ever gracious and has a empathy with people that is stunning to experience.  We made some pictures of her today for a museum exhibit on her accomplishments which are significant!  She’s been a good friend to Honor Flight and is currently spending a lot of time with America’s Wounded Warriors.

I should mention here that I am moving the WWII Memorial blog from Typepad over to my WordPress site to see if I can work out some “continuity.”  I may keep both hosts for a bit so the blogs don’t get lost too quickly.  Have a look at some of the events that have occurred over the past seven years!

 

Honor Flights 5/22/2012

Chicago, Arizona, Columbia and Myrtle Beach, SC and North West Ohio Honor Flights were in town today as was Jim McLaughlin, President of Honor Flight and Susan Barr traveling with Arizona.   The predicted stormy weather held off all day and other than a bit of humidity, my trip to the Memorial was absolute karma– A cure for my blues where you will find George Kerestes, Al Doehner and a cadre of people interested in “giving.”  Pretty phenomenal experience in every way.

As usual, I took a few snaps which are available for free download on the photo storage site where there are now over 25000 images stored from the last five or six years of photography.  All of the Honor Flight folders are dated if you are looking for information and it is “keyword searchable” which I have found invaluable with my ever shrinking personal “database.”

As we arrived, some first graders from Glebe School were lined up to greet the North West Ohio Honor Flights and so the day began with one incredibly nice thing after another happening.  All the flights had wreaths, NW Ohio had a tent which was cool and shady and someone gave Jim McLaughlin a check for a $1000.00.  There was another busload of employees from a tech company who were volunteering and had “just heard about the flights and decided to show up”.  Mary Pettinato as usual did up the town with a great ceremony which John Bonk and I both photographed.  So enjoy the photographs and thanks to all of you volunteers and veterans for a great day!

 

Honor Flight Summit: Feb 2012

 

 120 Honor Flight leaders from probably thirty states gathered at the BWI Hilton this weekend to discuss the flight procedures, health issues, safety, public awareness and fund raising and prepare begin another season of bringing WWII Veterans to DC.  It was great meeting people who are interested in service. It does make you feel better about everything and in this jaundiced DC photogrpher's mind, Honor Flight will become synonymous with the best of America in the coming decades.  I gave a short talk on photo libraries, the best places on the Memorial to take photos and how to do a pan if your lens isn't wide enough to get the whole group in the picture.

I signed eight cases of books and hung out in the lobby chatting with people I normally see for a few minutes at the Memorial.  They are distinguished by their good humor, kindness and dedication.  Great weekend!

 

"Heroes Welcome" begins transporting veterans

Lona Ichikawa has taken on a new role with Heroes' Welcome the organization that traditionally welcomes WWII Veterans to the BWI, Reagan and Dulles Airports. They are transporting their first bus trip from Northern Virginia.  The buses depart from American Legion Post 177 in Fairfax on October 2, 2011.  If you would like to be a guardian, you can get in touch with Lona through the Heroes' Welcome website.  They were recently given some press by the Vienna Connection and a lot of support from local volunteers.

Jewel of the Mall Online

"WWII Memorial: Jewel of the Mall" is now online!

Kilroy Was Here Commemorative stamp

I got this email from Pat Tillery who is pushing to have Kilroy put on a stamp:  "Stephen, I received your excellent book yesterday.  Thank you.  After only a glance, it thoroughly exploded an old theory of mine about photography.  Back when I worked as a civilian in Bangkok, I had a Pentax 35mm camera and about 50lbs of zoom, wide angle, macro, etc lenses.  I always felt that when I went to the Grand Canyon, I would take a roll of film and have a dollar plus invested in each (plus the equipment) and cherish each no matter how bad.  Whereas a professional would go there and take a thousand pictures and throw away all but a few good ones.  Therefore . . . Not true. Now with incredible digital cameras, I went to the WWII Memorial and took a thousand pictures and threw away all but a few----yawn.  All they did was prove I have been there.  Frankly, I went to the WWII Memorial a few years ago determined to be impressed and moved.  I wasn’t until I saw you photos!  Thanks for the uplifting experience!..."

Vote for Kilroy!...And visit his website!!!

HBO airs Honor Flight preview this Sunday

Jim McLaughlin sent out a note today reporting that a sampling of the Honor Flight piece done by HBO for "The Pacific" mini-series will air 8:57 Sunday night just before Part Three begins.  A longer piece is in production. Okay People...get out the popcorn!

 

 

The WWII Memorial: Honoring Our Heroes

A site dedicated to the WWII Memorial and the veterans who preserved our way of life during WWII. I’m Stephen R. Brown and the author of “WWII Memorial: Jewel of the Mall” . The book is available on the Mall and Amazon.  I post new images of Honor Flight Veterans at the Memorial on Wednesday and Saturday evenings.  These images CAN BE DOWNLOADED FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY. 

Over forty thousand WWII Veterans have been brought to the WWII Memorial for free by Honor Flight and affiliated groups in the past couple of years. It stands in my mind as fascinating and as moving a phenomena as any I have seen. 

Publish or perish!

I just set up a Cafe Press website where you can order an endless supply of WWII Memorial merchandise from t-shirts, cups, custom cards, etc.  Have a look. The prices are reasonable and the quality of their materials are good.  I shop online and I know what everyone's getting for Christmas!!  

Re the Jewel of the Mall book, I have a few left which I am selling through the website.  I approved the proofs yesterday on the third edition and if all goes well, we'll be seeing books by January. Archival features like sewing and gluing the bindings, thicker cover stock, better paper and 4-inch flaps plus more extravagant color will make this new edition very interesting.  I changed out a few pictures and resequenced the pages a bit.  And for those of you who have to carry the boxes of books, I kept the weight within two grams!

Third edition

As I mentioned last week, I am out of books but I am delighted to report that the image and design files have been submitted to the press and 15000 new copies of the book will be delivered mid-January.  I have selected a new printer and changed out a few pictures and added some new ones including a photo of Kilroy on two four inch flaps that are now a part of the cover. Additionally, the book will now be sewn and glued.  The paper is of better quality and in all, will be a significantly better product with no weight gain!....good news for those of you who have carried those cases!!!!  As you all know, this book is home grown so it's nice to be able to improve the product without raising the price.