This morning, we went to visit the American WWII Monument and the Japanese WWII Monument on opposites sides of a valley. Both had amazing views of the harbor, and we could see the site for almost every battle fought on land or at sea (Henderson Air Field is too far away as is Rennell Island). There was a great map at the American Monument, and as we looked over Ironbottom Sound (named for all of the ships sunks in that region) we could imagine the water full of battleships.
The Japanese Monument was sad because it was in such disrepair. A family who lived just below the monument walked up and visited with us a little bit. They said that their village used to be paid to keep the Japanese Monument in good shape, but since they no longer got paid, they no long had the right to look after the monument. A statue had been toppled and there was graffiti on the back of the monument in the picture.
We are so thankful for all of the men and women (past and present) who give of themselves to serve their country.
3 comments:
What an awesome History classroom. I pray that the kids really take all this in. It changes your perspective when you have the opportunity to "live" in the moments of our history. In Germany, we had that experience and it is amazing how it is magnified in your thinking after that.
Thanks for sharing the moments and experiences of your days.
Love you
Nahna
Sounds like a wonderful day of learning, wish we could join you for a few hours!
Praying for you guys!
The Conard Crew
WOW, you guys have lots of cool things on your island!!!
Chelley
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