Seeing all the memorials today was really moving for me because it just shows the importance of how many people actually died during wars and disasters like 9/11 and the Holocaust. I think the saddest memorials were the Holocaust Memorial and Museum, Vietnam Memorial, and the Pentagon Memorial. It’s really sad that one sick, twisted, person like Hitler, or Bin Laden, can cause so much damage and so much harm. The Vietnam Memorial was probably my favorite memorial today because I got to see one of my family members names one it. It’s sad, but I found out that my great-great uncle fought in Vietnam.

– Cameron

Memorials

Visiting the Pentagon Memorial today made me realize that going to Ground Zero a few days ago meant a lot more to me since that’s where my relative passed away. Knowing that he did pass away in the Twin Towers put a huge smile deep down in my heart but even now I am sad but it just made me feel good to here his name again.



--Dylan

Today as I visited the Pentagon Memorial for September 11th. When I was told how many people were killed, it didn’t really affect me. But when I saw the many benches, one for each victim, with their names on them, that made me realize how much people really died.



--Kaleb

I’ve had a fun week so far. New York was a blast. When we went to Philadelphia it was a short visit and it wasn’t the most fun time I’ve had so far, though it contained much history. Yesterday we went to Gettysburg and learned a lot of information about the battle. After that we went to our hotel in Maryland and got dressed up all fancy to go to a dinner theater. The food was alright but the main attraction was the show. It was a musical on a boat and it was pretty good. After that we went to the hotel and proceeded to saw many logs. Today we drove down to DC and saw a bunch of memorials. It was really interesting and historic. I also went to the Holocaust Museum. It was a very solemn place. There were many moving exhibits and it took me a while to take it all in. Well, I’m off to bed. See you when we get home!



– Robbie

Today I was at the Marine Corps Memorial (Iwo Jima). I noticed that some people were fooling around and that they didn’t realize what it meant. I thought, why would anyone fool around when there are the people who fought for this country, real people like you and me. The memorial means so much to me because I really knew what the Marines actually did for us. When I saw the memorial I stood there for a while and just looked up at the six people memorialized in the statue. I think it was the most amazing thing to see this powerful memorial--it was like a punch in the chest. In my mind I thought “Damn, I am so lucky to be in this country and be free.” I wish I could have told everyone to not fool around and respect this memorial that meant so much to me and many others.



-- Matt

Anything Goes

Enjoyable dinner and show at Toby's Dinner Theater of Columbia.

Day Four Update

Today has been a very hectic day. After a two hour tour through Gettysburg, it was time to head to our hotel in Maryland, which was about a two hour drive away from where we were. The ride went by pretty quick for me because I fell asleep for most of it and I was thoroughly enjoying the air conditioned bus. When we finally arrived at the hotel, I was definitely ready to get off the bus. But we ran into some trouble…not all of our rooms were ready for us so we had to wait. The wait would have been fine, until the bus turned off, along with the A/C. Everyone was sweating and groaning, and by the time we could finally get off, the cool air outside was pure bliss. We headed up to our rooms to get ready for the dinner theater. All four of us rushed around, putting our hair up, pulling on shoes, dresses and hurriedly putting on makeup. When we were all set we headed down to the elevator. It was pretty neat seeing everyone dressed up and looking so nice after such a hot, sweaty morning. We boarded the bus and were off to the theater to see “Anything Goes”. I’d never been to a dinner theater before, so I was thrilled. We ate tons of fantastic food from the buffet and then prepared to watch the show. It was one of the most exciting things on the trip so far, the talent was unbelievable and the show itself was hilarious. The hot, rushed morning and rushing around was worth the reward at the end of the day! It has been one of the fastest days of the tour so far, and I’m looking forward to tomorrow!


By Tori

Gettysburg

Today the Freedom Tour group visited the site of the Battle of Gettysburg in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The Battle of Gettysburg happened in 1863 during the civil war and was considered the “turning point” of the war. The Union (North) won the battle and eventually won the war. The group had tour guides come onto the busses and tour us through the open fields of Gettysburg, where thousands of men were killed right where we stood all those years ago.


During the tour, we visited some of the many monuments in the battleground. There are over 1,000 monuments in Gettysburg that remember those who fought for both the Union and the Confederacy. It blew my mind to think that some of our ancestors fought on this battleground all that time ago. Also to think what our world would be like had the south won the war. Just think, we would need passports to even go into the state of Virginia. Or to even go to vacationlands like Florida, we would need passports. It made me shiver to even think about that.

We also visited Little Round Top. Little Round Top was the hill that the Union was forced to protect or possibly face losing the entire battle. We hiked the hill and saw monuments commemorating troops from Alabama and our home of Maine who fought desperately to take the hill or keep the hill.


Overall our experience at Gettysburg was a good one. I think we all learned a lot more about the history of our country. It was a great addition to our trip.


By Thomas