The Vietnam War Memorial, designed by Maya Lin when she was a 21-year-old senior at Yale University, sparked controversy when it opened in 1982, but in the 31 years since then, it has become a site of pilgrimage, and perhaps the cherished of all the monuments and memorials on the National Mall.
Memorial Day is a time to honor those who have died fighting in our nation’s wars. It is also a time to reflect on where the United States has been and where it is heading. These speeches by President Dwight Eisenhower, perhaps the most significant U. S. military leader of the 20th century, are essential …
For the Union Dead by Robert Lowell is a meditation on the memorial to Col. Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment, who fought and died at Fort Wagner in South Carolina. The 54th was one of the first regiments composed entirely of African American soldiers. Below is an excerpt, but by …
Shut Out the Lights, a taut, evocative song about a Vietnam vet returning home by Bruce Springsteen
Iraqi war veteran Brian Turner reads two of his poems, including The Hurt Locker, which you can read along with him here.
O Judge of the nations, we remember before you with grateful hearts the men and women of our country who in the day of decision ventured much for the liberties we now enjoy. Grant that we may not rest until all the people of this land share the benefits of true freedom and gladly accept its disciplines. This we ask in the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner By Randall Jarrell From my mother’s sleep I fell into the State, And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze. Six miles from earth, loosed from its dream of life, I woke to black flak and the nightmare fighters. When I died they washed me …
More than 600,000 men and women have lost their lives in our country’s twelve major wars.
The LA Times: Lawyers leading the fight for gay marriage in California have been quietly preparing state officials for the possibility the U.S. Supreme Court might dismiss the case on a technicality next month without deciding the fate of Proposition 8.
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