Honoring All Veterans

Memorial Day 2009

I made this picture as a self assignment for an NYIP photo class many years ago. The object was to use converging lines to lead the eye into an image. Although I had never visited the Wall before, I decided to check out the location. It was a perfect day to avoid crowds of tourists...wet, miserable and chilly. After looking at the possibilities, I set my camera on a tripod at the apex of the wall to capture the Washington Monument at the converging lines formed by the Wall and the sidewalk. Just as I was about to release the shutter, that lone visitor appeared from seemingly nowhere at the point of convergence. Sometimes I guess we just get lucky.

After I had captured the image and was preparing to leave, I turned to the left and there on Panel 1 of the Wall I saw the names of some of my aviation unit buddies from 1964-65, at eye level, right in front of me. The sight of those names brought on emotions that I had not expressed since the day they were killed in Vietnam. I have been back several times since then and am always overwhelmed by the tremendous loss those pieces of black granite represent.

Earlier this month another name was etched on the wall. The addition brings the number of names on the wall to 58,261.

Frank Z

The National Air Force Memorial

"The Air Force Memorial is a national place of pride, reverence and remembrance located just outside the Nation’s Capital, in Arlington, Virginia. It is dedicated to the Men and Women of the United States Air Force and its Heritage Organizations. The Memorial was given to the nation during its formal dedication on October 14, 2006."

I made this photo of the Air Force Memorial on May 8, 2007. The memorial sits on a hill just west of the Pentagon and overlooks the site of the terrorist attack on Sep 11, 2001.

Frank