war and peace at the mall

The 6th grade was the last time I went to the Texas State Fair. Outside one of the exhibition halls I found myself looking up at a life size bronze statue of a man in uniform. I studied it for a moment, and then a very old man standing next to the statue said, “Son, I bet you can’t tell me who that is.” I looked over at the man, who was wearing the hat of a WWII veteran. His question was not condescending, but sounded more like the introduction to a history lesson.

I looked back at the statue and quickly replied, “This is Chester Nimitz, Rear Admiral of the Pacific Fleet during Word War Two.” The old veteran’s mouth hung open for second, and then he stuttered, “You don’t know how happy it makes me that such a young man knows that.”

That’s the kind of dork I was. The other kids wouldn’t let me play on their Atari, and I always got pummeled in football. So while they played video games, watched sports and talked about cars, I read Newsweek, watched Nightly News with Tom Brokaw, and built model ships. My two hobbies growing up were WWII navel history and presidential history. I’m not kidding.

So it was with great excitement that I made my first trip this past summer to Washington D.C. I only had one day to walk the Mall, and it was so hot that I didn’t stay out long. But I went from one end to the other, taking pictures and having that moment one does when they see buildings and monuments for the first time in real life that they have only seen in movies and the news.

As I climbed the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, I thought this reminds me of a temple. Then of course I reached the top, looked up and saw the words:


Turning around, I looked out on the famous vista. My mind played images of Dr. Martin Luther King’s speech, and the scene where Forrest Gump runs out to Jenny. And then I had a thought:

What does it say about a nation that has so many monuments to war and dead leaders?

Between the White House, the capitol, the monuments and the memorials – all in this one area – where all the leaders and their wars are planned, led and remembered. And for such a young country, we have been in so many wars.

I have to admit I was a bit saddened. So much potential, and so much good that has been done, yet it is the violence and those who served it well that we immortalize. And so I was happy to see ground broken yesterday on the Mall for the Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial. There, in the middle of monuments to war and violence, will be the first memorial to peace and non-violence.

That more in this country would remember the dream, and follow the example…