For the past several years, I been honored to serve on the Board of Friends of the National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C . This organization is a partner with the National Park Service in sponsoring 5 days of national commemoration at the Memorial, including Veterans Day.
The attached photographs were taken before the ceremony began and then immediately after it concluded. One reveals the centrality of this time in our nation's history... the podium situated right on the east-west centerline of the National Mall. The other photo shows the crowd gathered around the wreaths in front of freedom wall at the end of the event, a visible reminder of the sacrifice made by over 400,000 of our fellow Americans who perished during the war.
A video of the Veteran's Day ceremony can be found on the Friends' website at Friends of the National WWII Memorial. Also, on the website is a video of our third annual Haydn Williams' Legacy Lecture given this year by Tom Brokaw. It is an incredible 1 hour talk (without notes) of his experience growing up in the post-war years, and of his reasons for writing the book which is now a part of the World War II lexicon... "The Greatest Generation."
Rolland Kidder
