Do you have any photos of memorials you've been to that perhaps are not too well known? Photos aren't that necessary. Just would like to know some stories of where you've been to and your thoughts on the places. Can be about any war or conflict!
Have you ever been to Treasure Island? You know, the place as written about by Robert Louis Stevenson, the history of Jim Hawkins and Long John Silver on the isle where Gunn was castaway? RL Stevenson wrote the novel, Treasure Island, at least in part when he lived in or near Monterey, California. Monterey was the capital city of Spanish California, and as such had a military establishment, a Presidio -- defined as a military district completely inside a city boundary -- where is now located the Defense Language Institute, the place where non-English languages are taught. The Presidio starts across a road from the Pacific Ocean and climbs by stages up to a point to touch the low lieing clouds from the ocean. By close to the foot of the base was an flat spot which boasted a historic site marker, which explained how an cleared rectangle is an ancient stone-aged fort which is said to have been the inspiration for the famous fort discribed in Treasure Island. The cleared and preserved spot is not very impressive. I might not have found it but it was very near the museum of the post, one place I wished to visit.
My experience (so far, I might add!) has been restricted to the cemeteries and memorials of the Civil War along the east coast of the U.S. These include the places like National Cemetery at Gettysburg... and the one at Antietam. I've done Fredericksburg, and a few others. Next on my list is to visit Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, but it's massive and I'm not sure how I'm going to manage it, but I fully plan to try!
Why not spend a weekend trip away there? Spent 2 or 3 nights in a hotel or something like that and spend time to get around the place and at the same time spending a good time to see it properly.
Yes, that's what we're waiting for, @Riggy ... enough time to do Richmond for a couple of days but also the other Virginia battlefields while in the area. I go past that area while traveling, but there's never enough time to stop. I'll need to remedy that, won't I?
You definitely will! You always should do what you're interested in and what you want to do in life. I hope you enjoy your trip there, it should be awesome! Bring back some pictures if you can
I have been to Custer's last stand in Montana. It is a very eerie place, but it was really cool to be so close to history and see a battlefield.
In my town there is a small WWI memorial in the park. It was not a very big town at all back then, but there are several names of young men who died in the war. It's very moving to me because thinking of how small this town was back then, the war really hit hard.
Where are you living? I'm pretty sure if you live anywhere in Europe, there's going to be a town with a loss or story from the war.
Saint Paul, Minnesota, has in the State Capital district (and close to the loading dock to the National Guard HQ) a curious memorial. They have "the Gun which started WWII" -- one of the guns off the USS WARD that fired on and sank a Japanese mini-submarine on 6 December, 1941. The Ward was patroling off the entrance to Pearl Harbour when it spotted a strange sight. Even though they guarded a well-posted exclusion zone, they encountered an unknown submarine of unknown origin. They reported it, engaged it, sank it, and reported the confirmed kill -- hours before the Japanese air attack. A plurality, if not a majority, of the Ward's crew were members of the Minnesota Naval National Guard (state militia).
I've had the opportunity to see the memorials in Washington D.C. I saw the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam and Korean. It was all so moving. I didn't think I'd have such an emotional reaction to it at such a young age.
This is a great thread idea. Is there a section dedicated to museums? There are several smaller ones I've been too and one that I've done volunteer work for that I think people would enjoy. It would be neat to start a listing in some way.
I have been to the site of the Bergen-Belsen and Dachau concentration camps. Thought provoking in the extreme.
Recently I was reminded by someone's remark (perhaps here, perhaps elsewhere) that once visited a cozy little seaport town called Put-in-Bay, on Small Bass Island, middle of Lake Erie, Ohio, USA. The town seemed visually charming but as my time was not my own I saw far too littley of it. But close-by the village was the Tower commemorating the Battle of Lake Erie, War of 1812. This was the small but important action where Commadore Perry won over the small British/Canadian squadron. Dare I say it was a small battle.
