Doane Yawger: Washington, D.C., excels at chronicling past

While I might not want to live there, Washington, D.C., certainly is a spectacular place to visit. As the heart of this great nation, you would expect the District of Columbia to overwhelm you with its myriad attractions and unparalleled efforts at chronicling of our historical past.

When the highest building you are used to seeing is the seven-story Mercy Medical Center, Washington, D.C., and environs have a dizzying array of skyscrapers, whether government buildings, office complexes or high-rise hotels.

They provide an awe-inspiring view from an eighth-floor hotel room window or driving on one of the elevated expressways that ring the city.

D.C. is big. More than a half million people live there and the population nearly triples during the workday. Throw in a bunch of tourists and the congestion increases exponentially.

You know it’s mammoth, judging by the staggering volume of cars and trucks that whiz around your tour bus at just about any time of the day or night.

I can appreciate Washington for the large number of parks interspersed here and there. They are beautifully maintained.

The memorials are what really stand out in our nation’s capital. Our tour bus driver this week during the Central Valley Honor Flight pointed out that the area has only one monument, the Washington Monument, which towers over the entire landscape. It’s called a monument since its construction began when President George Washington was still alive.

Everything else is a memorial, the driver explained. And lots of folks are memorialized in this city.

I didn’t have time to get up close to the Lincoln Memorial, with its towering columns, but from a short distance I could see Abe sitting inside, just as I remember him from nearly 57 years ago. The Jefferson Memorial isn’t quite as big, but its domed roof catches one’s eye when illuminated at night.

We only got a fleeting glimpse of the back of the White House from the South Lawn. Its dome now is surrounded by scaffolding but I noticed snipers on the rooftop.

My favorite from just two days of hurried-up sightseeing has to be the Iwo Jima Memorial. I’ve seen the famous pictures of the six U.S. servicemen planting the American flag on that hill, but the memorial blew me away.

The six soldiers are realistically rendered in bronze, with vivid facial detail, wrinkles in their uniforms and all the features of the rifles they are carrying. But I was not expecting the statues to be 32 feet tall.

I won’t forget Arlington National Cemetery anytime soon. It’s a lushly landscaped complex with more than 300,000 small gravestones, a sobering reminder of our mortality and the great costs associated with war.

On the cemetery grounds is the Arlington Memorial Amphitheater, a circular structure crafted from light-colored marble. At the front of this building is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a large rectangular, coffin-sized enclosure housing the remains of a brave but unknown warrior.

We’ll come back to that tomb just a bit later.

The Vietnam Memorial has two gradually descending walls with the names of the 58,000 soldiers who died in that war. At its highest point the wall appears to be about 12 feet tall.

Aviation buffs would enjoy themselves in the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. It has the Apollo 11 spacecraft and houses Charles Lindbergh’s famous “Spirit of St. Louis,” which hangs from the ceiling. There’s also an Eastern Airlines DC-3 airplane that first saw service in 1936. Plenty of World War II fighter planes are preserved there, along with the Wright Brothers’ historic aircraft that got us flying in the first place.

In three short days, I missed more than I saw. But that means there’s plenty more to see in D.C. A week probably wouldn’t do it justice.

One of my enduring memories is watching the changing of the guard near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Signs caution visitors that it’s a silent and solemn ceremony but still packed with meaning. Before the ceremony begins, bells toll to add to the solemnity. At the tail end, a uniformed bugler plays taps to add to the overall reverence.

The half-hour ceremony features a soldier in full-dress uniform, including a dark blue blazer, lighter blue pants with yellow stripes, white hat and gloves and shoes polished like nothing you’ve ever seen before.

The soldier “paces” 21 steps in front of the tomb, each foot carefully placed in front of the other. As he gets to the end, he pivots and clicks his feet together. The highly polished rifle is switched from one shoulder to the other.

After an hour’s time, a sergeant and a soldier approach from the side. The sergeant inspects the new guard’s rifle and hands it back to him. There’s a crisp precision to the whole ceremony interrupted by the constant drone of airplanes coming out of nearby Reagan National Airport. This ritual has gone on 24 hours a day for 77 years without stop.

Washington, D.C., is a place that should be on most everyone’s bucket list. In only a few days it can build a lifetime of memories.

This story was originally published October 31, 2014 at 5:02 PM with the headline "Doane Yawger: Washington, D.C., excels at chronicling past."