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Sunday, December 16, 2012

Arlington National Cemetery: Tomb Of The Unknown Soldier Christmas Wreaths

While at Arlington Cemetery during the "Wreaths Across America" ceremonies, I spent some time at the Tomb Of The Unknown Soldier.  It's always a sobering experience to watch the changing of the guard and today I also got to observe the placing of the Christmas Wreaths at the tomb.





This is a view I've never seen before, the Tomb from down the steps below.




After the noon Changing of the Guard, they brought out several Vets to assist in placing the Christmas Wreaths. 





Arlington National Cemetery: Wreaths Across America


Today I went to Arlington Cemetery to try to get some shots of the Christmas Wreaths being placed by the "Wreaths Across America" group.  As it turned out, they needed people to help.  I had no idea that I would get to actually get involved in placing the wreaths on the graves!  They had over 100,000 wreaths, which weren't enough to cover the whole cemetery. I ended up meeting up with some friends who were also there and we placed wreaths in various areas around the cemetery and spent some time reading the markers of the servicemen we were honoring.  It was a great, somber day. 


There were several semis around the grounds full of fresh wreaths.
Getting ready to start.
Getting wreaths from the staff.

This was the first grave I placed a wreath on.






Boxer and US Army Tech Sgt., Joe Louis.

Stuart Roosa, Apollo 14 Pilot. 





Saturday, December 15, 2012

A White House Prepares for Inauguration

After I voted the other day, I decided to go see how life was coming along at The White House.  The first thing I noticed was that the entire area was full of construction equipment and teams getting ready for the inauguration.  Although protesters had been relocated and school children had to take their group photos through construction fences, life pretty much went on as normal, just around the crews, trucks and equipment.    



While I was getting the shots of the flags above, I heard a nearby commotion. This fine citizen was complaining loudly to the Secret Service Police that President Obama had done obscene things to his grandmother. To their credit, the officers stood there until he shuffled away, never once responding in kind. Seems their job is a lot more similar to mine than I had ever thought!

Eisenhower Executive Office Building, overlooking the West Wing.
Barricades for the inaugural parade.
Rare instance of no crowds on Pennsylvania Ave.
Any guesses?
Workers put up barricades in Lafayette Square. The Jackson Statue is in the background.

North Lawn & Fountain.

One sight you'll never fail to see is the "I was at the White House" photo!!! On this day, there were several examples. A couple are below.....




The last thing I did before I left Pennsylvania Ave. was take in a street hockey game.