Summer Vacation 2011, Day Two, Part One

When Juls and I woke up in beautiful, downtown Fredericksburg, we had a leisurely breakfast provided by our motel. Actually, it was leisurely until Juls noticed the dead cricket suspended in the spider web beneath a table in the breakfast room. We toured around town and picked out the houses we would buy if we won the lottery.

Then we went to the National Museum of the Pacific War, which is attached to the historic Nimitz Hotel in Fredericksburg. I am not by nature a war aficionado but I think the sign below sums it up.

Once outside, and all of the outer grounds are yours free of charge by the way, we started with the Plaza of the Presidents, honoring the ten consecutive presidents, spanning the years from 1941 to 1992, who served in our county's armed forces during WWII.

The Plaque at the Plaza of the Presidents

The individual memorials, outlining each President's branch of the military and years of service, along with an engraved facial representation.

Part of the Japanese Garden of Peace, which was a gift from a Japanese admiral to Admiral Nimitz, in thanks and recognition of his honor and courage.

This is not an official memorial tribute, but one left by a family member of a troop lost on board the USS Intrepid. There are individual tributes on the common memorial for the ship, as well as memorials for all of the ships lost in the Pacific during WWII. Seeing all of those faces, most of them so young, just breaks my heart as did this memorial offering.

The Admiral Nimitz Foundation, located across the street from the museum.

Juls and I spent about 3 hours at the museum and did not get to see it all. Admission to the museum is good for 2 days and you can come and go. The only thing missing was tissue stations.