Solemn Dignity: Nighttime on the National Mall
By Jonathan Berohn
No trip to Washington DC is complete without a visit to the National Mall. Staring at either end and making the grand tour through the monuments, the Smithsonian, and the capitol is an experience that really makes you appreciate what it is to be an American (or what being American is all about for those of you visiting from other countries).
For a somewhat different-and to me more evocative and memorable-experience, try visiting the monuments at the west end of the Mall at night.
The Rationale
Yes, you are probably wondering why I'm advocating walking through Downtown Washington DC at night. No. I receive no kickbacks from any ambulance service. Trust me-having lived in DC a few years ago, I'm at least as paranoid about the crime there as you are. But the one area that is patrolled and kept safe at night is the National Mall. Now, this isn't to say you should just wander directly toward the darkest, most out of the way place on the mall you can find, but a little common sense will keep you out of trouble and let you see the monuments with the throngs of tourists you have to wade through during the day. Visiting the Mall at night also lets you escape some of the brutal heat and humidity DC is famous for if you visit during the summer. And if that isn't incentive enough, the calm quiet of DC at night is the prefect backdrop for contemplating just what the monuments stand for and memorialize.
The FDR Memorial
OK-this first monument is technically a block south of the main Mall, but it's certainly worth seeing, and a great starting point for the simple reason that it's the easiest place to park at in the area. A car is pretty much required for this nighttime tour, by the way. I wouldn't recommend the hike too and from the Metro at night. And hailing a cab can be a little tricky unless you bring your cell phone and a cab company's number with you. Anyway, the FDR memorial, as I said, is quite a complex. It's a very modern installation that uses water and epic scaled stone sculpture to try to portray the grand scale and sweeping scope of FDR's presidency. Despite the grandeur, though, the statues of the wheelchair bound FDR also do a great deal to humanize FDR and remind us of the man behind arguably the most important presidency of the 20th century.
Once you've made your way through FDR Memorial, it's time to head north to the main Mall. I like to start on the very west end at the Lincoln Memorial.
The Lincoln Memorial
The Lincoln Memorial, with its unmatched view over the Reflecting Pond toward the Washington monument is about as majestic a scene as you'll find in the US. The larger than life seated Lincoln statue towers over you and reminds you of the greatness that Lincoln showed in fighting to hold the Union together. At the same time, the aura is not of victory but of resigned, solemn resignation to duty. There is a definite sense sadness embedded in Lincoln's triumph.
From the Lincoln Memorial, I suggest making your way counter clockwise starting with the south side of the mall. This route will take you, in order, to the Korean War Memorial, the DC WWI Memorial, the WWII Memorial, and the Vietnam War Memorial before bring you back to the Lincoln memorial.
The Korean War Memorial
One of the interesting and vaguely uncomfortable aftermaths of the success of the Vietnam War Memorial was the clamor from other veterans groups to have their own memorials on the Mall. On the other hand, recognizing veterans for their contribution is certainly in keeping with the spirit of the Mall. And viewing the Korean War memorial certainly dismisses any notions that this is simply a "me too" effort. The statue garden of soldiers slogging, poncho-clad, through bad weather and hostile terrain genuinely seems to capture the essence of the Korean War-a tough, unenviable job with no victory in sight. The memorial captures the feelings of stalemate and sacrifice in a stirring combination.
The DC WWI Memorial
This memorial is certainly the least well known of the memorials on the Mall, and probably the least known in all of Washington. One reason is that the memorial itself is not a national memorial but a city memorial to DCs veterans of WWI. Nonetheless, it's the only WWI memorial on the Mall, and worth a stop if only to gather some perspective on the place that WWI holds in the current American consciousness. When you see the WWI memorial, it's no secret which war the popular movies and miniseries have focused on lately. I suppose that's not too much of a shock considering the lack of surviving WWI veterans around to agitate for a bigger memorial, but it is telling about what Americans think is important to remember and how to go about doing it.
The WWII Memorial
When the long overdue WWII memorial was announced, many bewailed the damage it would cause to the inspiring view from the Lincoln Memorial toward the Washington Monument and the capitol.
Having viewed the finished product, these fears seem alarmist, at best. Certainly, the idea of cluttering up the Mall is a bad one in the abstract. When you think of the importance of WWII in our history, however, a memorial for its veterans certainly deserves a place on the most hallowed ground in our capitol. When you factor in the design that was chosen, the memorial is far from an eyesore. It actually seems to serve as a nice exclamation point to the end of the Reflecting Pool. In essence, Lincoln is gazing out from the first great American crusade to the second.
The design itself-a large sunken courtyard that memorializes veterans by state and also by theater of operations and particular battles-nestles against the end of the Pool quite comfortably. The use of water in the memorial also ties it together with the pool. The grand scale and martial decorations, on the other hand, seem a bit imperial and jarring, but they do conjure up the spirit of the time and the spirit of the memorializers.
The Vietnam War Memorial
Where the feelings of celebration and triumph come through quite clearly at the WWII Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial portray quite a different mood. The below ground V is nothing if not a scar in our national psyche, and the simple walls of names forces visitors to come to terms with the painful sacrifice endured on such a large scale for an ultimately lost cause. At the same time, the statue of the three servicemen standing watch just outside the wall display the sense of being lost that seems to be a common response from those who lived through the war or that era.
While all the memorials seem to evoke more reflection at night, the Vietnam memorial seems to focus the mind much strongly on the somber aftermath of this event in our national history. I have never seen a memorial that makes you think more than the Vietnam Memorial-especially at night.