I am in Washington DC for the first time in about 35 years for
the annual meeting of the
Anita Borg Institute Technical Advisory Board, of which I have
the honor to be a member. Before and after meetings, I have been
walking around our capital city.
I am staying in a hotel in the Foggy Bottom Historic District, near
George Washington University. It feels peculiar to write that I am
staying in Foggy Bottom but then this is a city where every
car license plate bears the phrase
Taxation Without Representation to protest the District of Columbia’s
lack of representation in Congress. That is, the local government uses
every car as a mobile political protest sign against the federal
government which is based here… peculiar indeed.
Today, the flags are at half mast for Pearl Harbor Day.
So far, I have visited the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, the
Lincoln Memorial (a short walk from Foggy Bottom), the Viet Nam Veterans
Memorial, the Korean Veterans Memorial, the F.D. Roosevelt Memorial, the
Jefferson Memorial, the World War II Veterans Memorial, and the Washington
Monument. That is, I have walked through some key sights in half of the
National Mall. From the mound of the Washington Monument tonight, I
could see the newly-lit national Christmas tree but my feet were too
tired to walk over for a closer look.
It snowed heavily the first day I arrived and it continues cold and icy.
This morning, three of us were going to walk from the hotel to our
meeting room at the National Academy of Engineering but it started
to sleet as we came through the door, so we took a cab. It was
snowing again tonight as I walked around the Washington Monument.
It is inspiring to see the monuments of which I have only seen
photos as they were opened over the years. The Lincoln Memorial
and Viet Nam Memorial were particularly moving. The Lincoln Memorial
is almost painfully lovely with its bright white stone lit up
at night. Lincoln’s words from his Gettysburg Address and
second inaugural address are cut into the walls at either side of his
statue:
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Fondly do we hope – fervently do we pray – that this mighty
sourge of war may speedily pass away … With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan – to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.
With its black stone slabs and ramp going down as into a grave, the
Viet Nam Memorial reminded me of the Jewish Memorial Temple at the Dachau
concentration camp outside of Munich. My daughter visits Washington
DC regularly now that she is in college in Pittsburgh, PA. She says
that in the sunlight, the polished surface of the Viet Nam Memorial
reflects your face back among the names of the war dead. If I have
time tomorrow, I will try to go back to see this. The Vietnam Women’s
Memorial – a tribute to the nurses of that sad war that was fought
during much of my childhood – also deserves a second look.
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