If you have had the chance to visit Washington DC for any amount of time you realize how special a city it is. Not just because it is capitol of the United States and the most famous home in America, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, otherwise known as the White House, but for all of the other gems to see while you are there.

Washington DC size is just less than 70 square miles. To put that into perspective, The Walt Disney World Resort area is 47 Square miles. It is home to more than 19 museums all part of the Smithsonian Institute, 175 Foreign Embassies, and most impressive the monuments that honour the history past and present.

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All of these monuments are part of The National Mall. It is America’s most-visited national park, where the past, present and future come together. It is overwhelming at first glance, with the US Capitol Building looming over the city, to the Washington Monument, to Lincoln Memorial and Jefferson Memorial.

We walked from the White House towards the monuments to see the Vietnam Memorial and then onto the World War II memorial. It is a large memorial with many areas that honour the memory and dark time in history. The National World War II Memorial honours the 16 million people who served as part of the U.S. Armed Forces during World War II, including more than 400,000 who gave the ultimate sacrifice with their lives.

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It is quite a large monument with many different areas of beautiful symbolism and significance. The perimeter of the monument has large columns with each state represented. Around the reflecting fountain are different areas honouring the heroes with quotes and statements of courage and heroism.

“The heroism of our own troops…was matched by that of the armed forces of the nations that fought by our side. They absorbed the blows and they shared to the full in the ultimate destruction of the enemy” – President Harry S Truman

As we were getting ready to walk to the Vietnam memorial we looked at one last piece of this space. It is the Freedom Wall. There are 4,048 gold stars that pay tribute to American lives lost at war. Each of those stars represents 100 American heroes lost. In front of the wall the plaque reads, “Here we mark the price of freedom.”

On this day, the 75th anniversary of D Day I am reflecting on my visit last year to this beautiful memorial of honouring the heroes of World War II. Heroes of all wars and conflict is something we should always remember and be grateful for. We are here today because of what they did for us.

I am grateful.