Lorenzkirche

Lorenzkirche at night. This cathedral is intricate and very beautiful at night.  This church was bombed out by the allies in WWII in the efforts to destroy manufacturing capabilities here.   It has been rebuilt from the ruins and the interior bears many of the scars of the war.  I had seen pictures of the historic buildings in Nuremburg illuminated at night, so I took the train down to the city center and began walking.  Just as I was headed back to the hotel, The lights came on and I got to see the beautiful architecture from eras that have long since passed into history, illuminated in the early night sky.  It was gorgeous.

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Flossenburg Concentration Camp, GE

I went to Germany to support a unit there near the former East German and Czech border this year.  The day we completed our mission, we were released early.  A former officer and military historian with us noted we were close to Flossenburg death camp.  We drove to the camp and spent hours viewing the site.  I was at a loss for words as we toured the various displays.  The images drawn by the inmates were haunting...no other word describes it.  Looking back down from the path to the chapel, this was the valley of death.  At the far end was the building containing the incinerator and a dissection room for a "doctor".  The walled area on the far side of the small pyramid was the execution wall.  Detainees were lined up and shot here.  The pyramid is the remains of the ashes from incinerated bodies dumped in a pile here.  The nearer area lined with blocks is a tribute, by country, to all who died here.  This number includes Americans and British POWs.  The pad directly in front is the memorial to the American units that liberated the camp.  This is a place that will forever be etched in my memory.  

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Buffalo Soldier

As a cavalry soldier, I have been afforded many opportunities and been assigned to many units over the years.  I first saw this memorial when I was at Fort Bliss in 2006 for the First Sergeant Course, prior to returning to Korea.  It reminded me of my time in the 1st Squadron,10th Cavalry at Fort Knox in the old 194th Armored Brigade.  Here on my second visit, I got to see it anew with a friend as we were working here on post.  There are never too many memorials to our heritage.

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Field of Honor

Whenever I travel, I seek out the military cemeteries.  They draw me because of those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our way of life.  I know that one day I will be laid to rest in one like this...to rest among those who are far more worthy than I.  One of the things I see when I do go there is families and loved ones visiting the gravesites of their military family members.  It is always a sobering experience to walk these hallowed grounds and reflect on who is here and why they exist.  I pray we never run out of those willing to give their all in the defense of this great nation.

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Tombstone Stagecoach

Tombstone, whith Kirk Douglas and Val Kilmer is one of my favorite movies, so when I found myself in Southern Arizona on a business trip, I couldn't help but make the time to go to the place.  The mini-drama reenactment was pretty good, but what was better still was the place shrouded in history.  It is one of the last vestiges of historic old west remaining.  The nostalgic ar and sheer volume of old west history is amazing.  I spent a day here with friends and just touched the surface.  Perhaps I will get the chance to come back some time.  In the meantime, whar's ma stetson......

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Arizona Sunset

In my new position as a Consultant for the Army, I get the opportunity to travel a bit.  I had heard about the sunsets in Arizona, but this was a first for me.  Even worse, I had no tripod or camera, just my cell phone.  I will be prepared for the next time I make it to Southern AZ.

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JBLM Headquarters

On 1 February 2010 Fort Lewis and McChord AFB combined under a Base Re-Alignment and Closure

(BRAC 2005) action designed to streamline military operations costs and processes.  It is a process that I have been involved with significantly over the last 14 months.  On this date we saw the fruition of all of our countless hours of work when we cased the colors of the US Army Garrison Fort Lewis, and uncased the colors of US Army Garrison Joint Base Lewis-McChord.  Just inside the double doors of this building is a display denoting the history of this building.  It was formerly the post headquarters and later a Division HQ and beginning in the 1970s the ROTC Western Region HQ.  The display includes a picture just like this of the building in 1954.  As of 1 February 2010 it once again is the Garrison HQ of the new Joint Base.  As a Lieutenant Colonel, Dwight D. Eisenhour occupied the office behind the bottom left window in the picture. 

I used rephotographic techniques to try to recreate the image on display.  For more information on the process of rephotography, see the Third View website at http://www.thirdview.org/3v/home/index.html. 

It was great being a part of the history of this installation.  I have spent 12 years here.  That is more than 1/8th of the time this post has been in existence.  I will truly miss it after retirement.

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The Washington Capitol

On a recent trip to Olympia, Wa, I had occasion to drive through the Capitol Mall.  I was very impressed with the number of monuments dedicated to the military and the sacrifices of the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines for this country.  This is the approach to the Capitol Rotunda that you see in the center.  It was damaged in the 2001 6.8 earthquake whose epicenter is just nine miles north of this point.  To the left, the obelisk is a monument to all Congressional Medal of Honor awardees.  The sculpture to the right front is to all sevicemembers who have served this country in WWI.  In between where the ladies are standing is the POW/MIA Memorial.  A left face from here would face the Washington State Vietnam Memorial.  A walk through these grounds carries a significance and somber reminder that freedom is not free.  From those who died or dedicated their lives to open up this territory to those who died in service to this nation in Iraq and Afghanistan, There is a price to be paid for all that we enjoy.

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Space Needle Sunset

In the March 2005 I took a photography course during the evenings in Seattle.  I had to leave with enough advance time to allow for traffic.  On this day, the traffic was light and I arrived near the classroom facility early enough to catch some of the sunset.  Since I had some time, I drove back up Queen Anne Hill to find a vantage point from which to capture the Space Needle in the sunset.  I found a parking lot, but the only way to see the visa I wanted was through an 8 foot chain-link fence.  I used the hole in the fence to rest the front of the lens and took this shot.  I caught it just in time.  I finished up and went to class with a few minutes to spare.

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Crooked Sky

In stark contrast to the tranquil blacks and whites of the lake below, the mountain above was rugged beauty against a blue sky.  If you could look around, all of the skyline was similar to this.  The stream that flowed through the snow alternated between swollen blue glacial melt rapids and pools of incredibly still dark, deep waters running through glacier-carved troughs.

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The Mirror

The drive to Leavenworth Bavarian Village in Washington is beautful and scenic.  Just five miles from Leavenworth on Hwy 2 is this lake.  With it 25 degrees and fresh snow on the ground, it was a study in black and white.  There was no wind and the lake was glass smooth.  As I walked up a bufflehead swam away making v-shaped wakes on the mirrored water. 

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Water Feature

I have traveled through many airports over the last 27 years.  By far, the most exotic and beautiful I have been in was Changi International Airport in Singapore.  It has many lush gardens and attractions.  We spent several layovers enroute to and from Malaysia.  The orchid gardens were incredible and the water features were quite relaxing.  As we wandered around the airport at 4 AM, I saw this sculpture and with the lights down in the terminal, I liked the ambiance. 

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Dragonfly

The area around Rodriguez Multi-Purpose Range Complex in northern South Korea is, for half of the year or more, very wet.  You can imagine how wet a land of perpetual rice paddies would be.  With all that standing water, mosquitos abound.  So do the dragonflies, which feed on them.  I enjoyed trying to get close enough to get some good pictures of them because they are so skittish.  They came in a myriad of colors and the challenge was to find new colors and markings. 

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The Cone

This is one of the sights I will miss when I retire.  In Western Washington, from October until May, the skies are usually cloudy or overcast.  As a result seeing Mt. Rainier is a rare sight.  There are days where the clouds break late in the day coming across the Olympic Peninsula and the sunlight streaming through is deep orange.  On these days, the result is an orange creamsickle colored peak.  This is a sight few locations in the world have to offer.

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Frost

The night began foggy and cold.  When I woke up, everything was lined in this frosty fringe.  When I see something like this, I always look for patterns.  I found these beds of ivy near my office and managed to capture a few images of this silvery lining. 

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