In the span of just over a week, after leaving Big Bend, our mental toughness was challenged. We visited 3 Presidential Museums, 3 memorials, and 1 native American cultural center. All of them brought back memories, challenged assumptions, and give us pause to think about what we believe.
We spent three days in Fredericksburg, TX, soaking up the life and times of LBJ, the wineries of the Texas hill country, and the National Museum of the Pacific War (this area being the home to Admiral Chester Nimitz). The Museum was astoundingly detailed, so our heads swam with more information about this battle or that than we cared to remember. It was also a sobering experience - so many lives lost, so many heroes, so many decisions that had to be made, so many people's lives changed. The cruelty, the hardship, the intensity of battle, the mind of the enemy, the home front - all of it chronicled in this excellent museum. "Uncommon valor was a common virtue," said Admiral Nimitz. We felt that.
And if that wasn't mind boggling enough, attached to the museum were
three another poignant reminders of the sacrifice that war demands:
first, a memorial courtyard honoring individuals, ships, and units that
fought in the Pacific Theater; second, The Plaza of the Presidents, a
striking outdoor tribute to the
ten Presidents who served in WWII
in some capacity - from Franklin Roosevelt thru George H.W. Bush; and
third, but most emotionally moving of all, a Japanese Garden of Peace, a
tranquil respite from the reminders of war and death all around us, a
gift from the people of Japan to the people of the United States, in
honor of Admiral Nimitz.
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| Peace Garden |
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| Part of the Plaza of the Presidents |
The LBJ Library/Museum in
Austin was the first of the three we visited. It was a good experience,
in most regards, and I came away with the following thoughts: The museum
was definitely about what he DID, his legislative accomplishments;
Johnson was an energetic, intelligent, "in-your-face"
public servant,
who was influenced by his own economic struggles and determined to help
his constituents get their due; He was the consummate politician who
knew everyone and knew how to get things done; He cared deeply about
this country, especially those who were left behind; He accomplished a
great deal during his years in congress and as president, passing
legislation on such important domestic issues as education, health care,
civil rights, poverty, conservation, and transportation; And, sadly,
all of the good he tried to do was completely overshadowed by his
failures in foreign affairs, most notably the Vietnam War. It was hard
to walk through this part of the museum - all the social unrest, the
protests, the assassinations, the escalation of the war, his decision
not to seek reelection in 1968. We lived through all of that and I had
forgotten how much he had accomplished before it all fell apart. I came
away with a better appreciation for him as a person and a better
understanding of how much he did to move this country forward, but
saddened by what the war cost this country.
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| Vast collection of paper at the LBJ Library is first impression |
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| LBJ Ranch |
Next it was on to College Station and the George H. W. Bush Museum/Library. I really had no idea what to expect. I didn't vote for him, but I had no bad feelings about him either. His museum was much more about the man, his values, his family, his hopes for America, his vision of a "kinder, gentler nation." Of course there was information about his background in foreign affairs and the CIA, and a special exhibit on "Spies, Traitors, Saboteurs: Fear and Freedom in America" that was an excellent look at terror on American soil.There was quite a bit on the first Iraq war, even giving us a glimpse into how decisions were made and how the war was managed and what was really different was the sense that we knew why we were there, what needed to be done, and a clear exit strategy was in place. What I came away with mostly was what a good, civil, kind person
President Bush was. And, regrettably, how much our country has
regressed: how "un-civil" we have become. In that respect, it was depressing. How I long for a president who stands on high moral ground.
Leaving the Texas A & M campus, we headed to Dallas. I was not looking forward to this museum at all. George Bush was not my favorite president and his decision to start the Iraq War has had, in my opinion, long-lasting (debilitating) consequences. But I also recognized that his presidency got off to a horrible start with 9-11 (and I wasn't looking forward to reliving THAT, either, as I knew we must in this museum). I was pleasantly surprised by the library and came away with some empathy for how difficult it is to be president, to have to make incredibly difficult decisions, and to try to keep a nation positive in the most difficult of times. Like his father's museum, this one painted a picture of a good human being who cared about all people in this country and about what's best for the nation. We will never agree on many fundamental issues and how to solve them, but I have more respect for him as a person and as president than I had before. This library/museum was very much geared to educating (especially young) people with interactive displays, which I very much appreciated. The difficult thing about this museum is that everything that happened was just too real, too current for me, and so much of it was disconcerting. Emotionally, it was tough.
But not as tough as the next place we visited - The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza - in Dallas, located within the infamous (former) Texas School Book Depository. Talk about bringing back (bad) memories. Nearly everyone of my generation can tell you where they were on the morning JFK was assassinated. This museum chronicles all of JFK's trip to Texas that fateful day in November, hour by hour - the preparations, the anticipation, the crowds, the security. Everything. Through displays and film the whole morning and the aftermath is set out; the smooth transition of power from Kennedy to Johnson, the arrest and murder of Oswald, the Warren Commission and the painstaking way in which information was gathered, the (continued) controversy over its findings, and, at long last, a film about the legacy of JFK. It was all such heady stuff - by the end, we were both physically and emotionally exhausted. And then we walked out to gaze upon the actually site of the assassination. By the time we left Dallas that afternoon, we were more than ready for wine tasting at the Caudalie Winery where we were staying!
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| Where it happened November 22, 1963 |
Of course, we weren't finished with the museums. Our next stop took us to the Chickasaw Cultural Center in Oklahoma. We knew nothing about this native American tribe, but like our experience in Arizona, we were both saddened by the treatment they received at the hands of the white European interlopers and the perseverance they display in the face of adversity. They, too, experienced the Trail of Tears as they left their ancestral homelands in Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee and settled in "Indian Territory" in Oklahoma during the era of Indian removal in the 1830s. They, like those tribes we visited in Arizona, have kept many of their traditions alive and have hope for their future.
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| Bronze statue at center of the people leaving homeland |
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| Eternal flame - sacred fires of Green Corn Ceremony |
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We had one more memorial/museum to visit on this leg of the trip - the site of the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. It was yet another moving experience as we "relived" that horrible morning when over 800 people were either killed or injured (including 19 children) in a senseless, home-grown terrorist attack. We were also uplifted by the tremendous outpouring of love and sense of togetherness that such a tragedy brings forth in a community and a country. Of course, we all saw the same thing in New York after 9-11 and in too many places where such atrocities have taken place. It's a real tribute to the strength and goodness of most people despite any differences. It's a shame that it takes a tragedy to bring people together.
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| Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial - chairs on right represent individual deaths |
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| 100 year old "survivor tree" |
So much for my museum musings! This has been an educational, traumatic, thought-provoking, and emotional few weeks of our journey.
