Last night I got done working on the wife’s truck and decided to pay a visit to the All Veterans Memorial on the grounds of the North Dakota state capitol. With today being Veterans’ Day, there will be a lot of visitors here. This memorial does something special on this day, and I didn’t feel like intruding on the day with my camera during a solemn occasion (although I may be visiting to pay my respects).
For anyone who doesn’t know, the top of this memorial is only square on the outside; the inside is a spherical dome. That’s important for many reasons, which are evident when you’re there. At the center of the monument is a globe on a pedestal.
As the placard describes, something special happens here at 11 o’clock on the eleventh hour of the eleventh month every year, in commemoration of Veterans’ Day.
At precisely that time, the rays of the sun travel down this hole in the dome of the monument, beaming their way directly toward the globe at its center. I was kinda hoping that someone would be able to clean that stain off the wall where water sometimes drips through the tunnel.
On the globe, North Dakota is raised and polished above the surrounding terrain. The light of the sun strikes it directly for a brief period of time every Veterans’ Day at 11 am, lighting it up for those in attendance. Hopefully someone can tidy up this globe before it sees all the attention today; I tried to dab a couple of spots off with a clean handkerchief, but that didn’t help like an actual cleaning would.
While this is a really neat phenomenon, it’s really all about remembrance. Millions have served this great nation over the past couple hundred years and every one of them sacrificed a great deal, even if they didn’t lose their life or suffer physical injury in battle. Today is only one of the 365 days each year that we should hold them in high regard and thank them for the freedoms we enjoy because of their commitment to duty. If you’re there to see the light of the sun strike North Dakota on the globe, that’ll be really neat. Then take some time to peruse the names on those metal placards and consider the men and women who protect this great nation.
