To the Unknown
Wednesday, February 27, 2008 (18:00:00)

Posted by gabe

Normally, I would post information/pictures on my trips in the 'General' section but this trip was a little more personal for me. I recently made a trip to Washington DC and it was first time ever being in the city. To say the least, I was overwhelmed, impressed, in awe, and grateful. My feelings of being overwhelmed came from the fact that there was so much to see and so little time to do it. When you stop and think about it, there's the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, WWII memorial, Vietnam Memorial, Smithsonian, National Archives, White House, Congress, Supreme Court, Arlington National Cemetery, and the Jefferson Memorial. That's just naming the major sites to see. Try seeing all of that in 2 days! Let me tell you, my puppies were barking by the end of the 2 days.

My feelings of being impressed are pretty obvious where they came from. Try seeing all those things (that I just mentioned) and not be impressed. My feelings of awe and gratitude really came from walking through Arlington. It was quiet and somber while I was there. As I was walking through, I could see row after row of soldiers who had died in the course of defending their country. I began to get a perspective of how much blood was shed and people who gave their lives so that I could have freedom. It showed me how valuable freedom really is and fighting for something that you believe in. The tomb of the unknown was equally impressive as everyone was completely silent.

What made the trip even more enjoyable was the fact that the Hattaway's have a relative who is buried in Arlington. In fact, I did some research and found that he was among the first to ever be buried there. John A Curry was captured as a prisoner of war during the Civil War and later died in 1864. He happened to be in Virginia when all of this happened. At this same time, Arlington was just getting started in 1864 and men from both sides of the war were being buried there. John was one of the fortunate few who were buried in Lee's circle which is the very first area that soldiers were buried in Arlington. If you get a chance to visit, he's in section 16, grave 55, near the Confederate Memorial. As a point of reference, he was married to Mary Hattaway (daughter of Baton Hattaway).

So needless to say, it was a great trip. I had an incredible time and would gladly do it again. I took a million pictures. Click on the link below to see some of the highlights.