The Wall That Heals

I have been to Washington D.C. a few times in my life, the first when I was younger and didn't really appreciate the history of it. A couple of years ago, when my brother graduated from the George Washington School of Medicine, I was able to go back to D.C. with my parents and grandpa for the graduation. While we were there we visited many of the monuments and memorials including the Vietnam Memorial Wall. This was the first time I had been back there since discovering my love for photography and I wanted to take all the pictures I could. We went on a very beautiful day which meant the majority of the memorials were very crowded. The Vietnam Memorial has always been one of my favorites and I was looking forward to taking some good pictures, but there were people everywhere so I didn't really get the chance...
This weekend, a model of the Vietnam Memorial Wall was brought to the parking lot behind the Newgate Mall. I hadn't had a chance to see it all weekend but I decided I would go for sunrise Sunday morning. I called Russell, a friend who also enjoys taking pictures, to see if he would go with me because I didn't want to go alone so early in the morning. He came over at 5:30 a.m. and we headed down there. It was a cool morning and there was a trailer with facts and stories from people who had visited the wall, including some from veterans. It was really cool to read their stories and learn so much. The model itself was about half the size of the original. People had left things next to the wall, much like they do with the original. I got a few pretty good shots, this being one of my favorites.