Arlington National Cemetery, USA

The initial idea about this post was quite different...since I thought I had never posted about the Arlington National Cemetery before (even though my gut feeling was telling me otherwise, but the tags on the left were like trying to prove me wrong).
Turns out I really really should trust those gut feelings of mine...cos they just prove to be right...and the reason why i overlooked the Arlington tag here was cos I was looking for it under Washington D.C and not under Virginia as the other Alrington post is...but these cards can be sooo confusing sometimes...cos both that are shown here, bear the name of Washington D.C on the back...tsk tsk tsk...what a mislead!!
Well, frankly I was too lazy to search and scan and upload something else, so here we have two cards of the Arlington National Cemetery...this time under the tag of both Virginia and Washington D.C..but dear USA postcard printing companies, please make up your mind on such issues in the future so to avoid such confusions...thank you very much

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Both cards arrived in 2012...the first one as an official...the text on the back reads:

Arlington Mansion and 200 acres of ground immediately surrounding it were designed officially as a military cemetery June 15 1864, by Secretary of War, Edwin M. Stanton. More than 260,000 people are buried at Arlington Cemetery. Veterans from all the nation's wars are buried in the cemetery, from the American Revolution through the Persian Gulf War and Somalia. Pre-Civil War dead were reinterred after 1900.

the three smaller stamps I guess are more than familiar...the bigger one doesn't appear so often on my mail..theYear of the Dragon stamp issued in 2012.

the other one arrived from Swantje for the WOTM lottery...boy, that seems to have been so so long ago!!
Again, from the backside: The Memorial Amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery was dedicated on May 15, 1920 (here is that tricky word 'dedicated' again...thanks to Bryon for the prior clarification!))
While many ceremonies are conducted throughout the country, many consider the services at Arlington's Memorial Amphitheater to be the nation's official ceremonies to honor all American service members who serve to keep the United States free.

 

some more nice stamps! (incl. the American Clock and the Toleware)...Here you can also see the nice Bonsai stamp from the set of 5 Bonsai Tree stamps issued in 2012, with this one showing the Black Pine. The other one is the Neon Celebrate stamp issued in 2011.

so, that would be all for today folks...hope you had a nice summer in general, and you are now ready to embrace the lovely autumn days and their beautiful colours!

Stay well!

Vietnam Wall, USA

A cool official card I received last year..

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The card shows the Vietnam Wall in Washington D.C., which extends down into the earth past the names of 50,000 Americans who died in Vietnam, then up again into the daylight. Student designer Maya Ying Lin, who won the design competition, explained her entry: "Take a knife and cut open the earth, and with time the grass will heal it." (from the back of the card)

Well, for me time doesnt really heal things...just makes the pain more bearable and easier to deal with...but that counts for something, doesn't it?

I sometimes wonder, at walls like this...is there someone who actually gets to read ALL of the names? from beginning till the end? 

Not me, that's for sure...I just take a brief glimpse, and read a few...and sometimes some names catch my attention...but I surely won't go and read all 50,000 of them!

3 great stamps and one cute sticker!
On the stamps you have George Washington from 2011, and two of the 5 cars' stamps issued in 2013

Washington D.C.

Even though it's like the heart of the USA, I barely have cards from Washington D.C., so Im glad Jennifer sent me this one few months ago.

The back of the card has a shortish poem which goes like this:

When an enchanted forest
of pink petals
is all your eyes can see,
you know
you've set your foot
in Washington D.C.

The cherry blossoms give special beauty to the card....reminds me of the Japanese cards coz you can often see cherry blossoms there besides/in front of/behind the temples.

The stamp is rather well-known, but I love the cancellation on this one...a very clear one.

Holocaust Memorial Musem, Washington DC, USA

At my first glance at this card, i thought it was a nice cool card with some drawings on it which represented something...

At my second glance...or better said at my glance on the back of the card, I figured out this represents the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.

The Wall of Remembrance, stands in memory of the million and a half children who perished in the Holocaust. American school children created these tiles in response to their learning about the Holocaust.

So, now, I actually feel shivers all over when i look at this card...yet, I love it even more...coz it has a great significance, due to what it represents...there is such an infinite depth behind these drawings and sketches....world's history feels just soo cruel sometimes...the presence as well...I really shudder at the thought of the future....