Vietnam War Memorial near Mineral Wells, TX - II

Continuing my post about the Vietnam Museum near Mineral Wells, TX I would like to present some more pictures of the place. This place is located on a fairly large parcel of land on the highway. The impressive feature is that this land was donated by four individuals towards building this museum/ memorial. Then there are others who have donated in various capacities to create the verdant and peaceful place that it is. There is a nice flower garden with a Gazebo in the center, military vehicles of the Vietnam war era are on display on one side of the property. This museum is still under construction and as such it is not fully operational. Even for a project under creation it is totally visitable.


Here are more pictures of the project.

The wall in which names of martyrs are etched.

Soldiers Cross - sculpture

The Gazebo amidst flower garden

Powerful message - if only Indians were to understand this message

Vietnam War Memorial near Mineral Wells, TX

One thing I admire about Americans is the way they respect their soldiers, veterans, and martyrs. Almost every city - large or small - has some kind of war memorial to celebrate their veterans and martyrs. This kind of patriotic spirit will motivate youngsters to join the fighting forces and be willing to lay down their lives for the country.



I recently was in Mineral Wells, TX and on the way back I noticed this Vietnam War Memorial Museum by the highway and decided to stop for a few minutes and see what it is all about. I am pretty impressed by the way it is being built complete with a garden, memorial wall, a computer driven information kiosk, etc. Here are some pictures of the place... many more to come.

Battle Ship Texas

The Battleship Texas is one of the older warships that belonged to the US Navy. Today it is a floating museum in the channel waters off the coast of Houston. This is part of the Texas State Parks network and being a member of the state parks I got free entry. The battle ship is meant to give a sneak preview of how warships operated and housed their officers and sailors. Who ate in silver cutlery and who ate on steel plates, etc, how the guns operated, where ammunition was stored, who did the laundry, etc. It is an educative exhibit for those who are not aware of the workings of the Navy. For us it was another state park visit and learning history of this country, one site at a time.


Here are few pictures of the battle ship.

San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site

The San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site is a 1,200 acre is a sprawling green space for everyone to visit and enjoy. Sited on the site of the historic San Jacinto Battle which brought Texas its independence from Spanish/ Mexican occupation is a nice weekend getaway from the oil metropolis of Houston. It is thronged by millions of visitors annually, given its close proximity to the golden beaches of Galveston, the oil-business-hub of Houston and other important towns.


A visit to this monument provides an important lesson about the history of the state of Texas. Another important landmark here is the Battleship TEXAS State Historic Sites which is an old fully fitted battle ship which people can visit and learn about the living and working conditions of sailors and officers of the Navy. Here are few pictures of the monument and the battle ship

New Orleans World War Memorial

I have always respected soldiers, men and women, who fight for their country and sometimes even make the supreme sacrifice in the line of duty. Irrespective of which country they belong they are all spurred by the goal of protecting their country or destroying their enemy country (except the Indian army). I visit war memorials when I come to know of one in the vicinity. While at New Orleans I decided to visit this world war memorial in the Ninth Ward and was surely surprised by the way the memorial had been fashioned. The memorial as a whole is similar to the Arch of Titus, but in listing out the names the front has only white soldiers names, while black and colored people are mentioned in a separate list in the back of the memorial. In short even in death for the country the glory for non-white people is little lesser. I hope this has changed since then.

Unequal Even When Martyred

We know that until the Civil Rights Movement African-Americans didn't have several basic rights and were heavily discriminated against. Some of the books I read talked about soldiers of African-American origin who fought with the Union during the civil war and helped free their brethren. But what those books didn't say was that even though both White and Colored (African-American) soldiers did exactly the same thing, they were treated differently.

Bywater War Memorial, New Orleans

When I was in New Orleans earlier this month I took time off to visit the Katrina-devastated and under-reconstruction Lower 9th Ward. In Bywater neighborhood of the Lower 9th Ward is this World War I war memorial. The structure which looks quite similar to the India Gate in New Delhi commemorates those from this area who laid down their lives for the country. The memorial is a great initiative and everyone listed there deserves the respect of one and all. But what stuck me hard was the fact that the memorial has separate boards listing the names of "White Men" and "Colored Men". This is quite absurd in my opinion, a man or woman who serves the nation and performs the ultimate sacrifice of giving up his or her life is not to be perceived by color, they are patriots and that is it.










It seems like even after getting martyred some people are simply not accorded equal status.

Kaufman County Veterans' Memorial

Yesterday we visited Kaufmann, a city of about 8,000 people located way south-east of Dallas. Characterized by vast open spaces with tiny residential communities dotted here and there, Kaufman presents a completely different picture of America, no high rise buildings, narrow and mostly pot-holed streets, bushes and weeds in most backyards, etc.

Exploring this small town we chanced upon the quaint and well maintained Kaufman County Veterans' Memorial Park, this memorial celebrates the sacrifices of American soldiers in various wars the nation has fought. A list wars given in the memorial's website includes the following wars:

• Spanish American War April 25, 1898 - December 10, 1898
• World War 1 April 6, 1917 - November 11, 1918
• World War 2 December 7, 1941 - December 31, 1946
• Vietnam War December22, 1982 - May 7, 1975
• Granada & Panama August 24, 1982 - July 31, 1984
• Desert Storm December 20, 1989 - January 31, 1990
• Iraq April 17, 2003 - Present

Some pictures of the War Memorial