History

I recently returned from Southern California where I was on vacation. The first four days of my family's trip we stayed in San Diego. As many of you may know or may not know the USS Midway was decommisioned there in San Diego bay, which happened to be about two blocks from our hotel. I have always been somewhat of a history buff, my grandfather was a marine and was stationed at Camp Pendleton and my great-grandfather served in the navy during WWII on one of the amphibian water crafts... Needless to say my vacation was made when I saw that the Midway was stationed in San Diego.
Seeing the Midway in San Diego was not the first time that I have experienced the feeling that one might get when they are in the presence of memorials or things of that nature... About five years ago I went to Hawaii and it was there that I was able to see the USS Arizona in the exact spot that it was sunk in Pearl Harbor, I saw the WWII memorial that at the time had been recently built.
During this type of trip I find myself wondering if I am the only one who gets the chills or becomes lost in the history and symbolism behind each of these monuments or memorials. Im amazed at the lives that could have been lost and at the fact that just being in the same vicinity of these memorials makes me a part of history and it makes take a step back and look at what I am inheriting. The right to vote and the freedom of speech are just two things that I have inherited because of the men and women that were doing what they believed was their job, but it wasn't only their job they created the life that we not get the luxury of living.