08 5th Maint Reunion


Our hotel, the Holiday Inn Historic District, was right in the heart of Philadelphia's historic attractions. Within walking distance were the Independance Visitor Center,the Liberty Bell, Independance Hall, the Betsy Ross House, the US Mint, and Franklin Court, among others. After meeting in the hotel lounge Thursday evening, we had dinner and got to know each other. One thing that was overlooked was a sign identifying the group. Friday morning we met for breakfast in the hotel dining room before we struck out to see the sights.We walked to the Independence Visitor Center mostly because what better place to start. It was there that we found a duck boat tour sooooo--- we got our tickets and went out to meet our WWII DUKW. Ours finally came in and unloaded the previous tour. We had our picture taken in front of the Duck to, I guess, help in identifing the bodies that might wash up on shore later in the day. The driver, all would agree, was a highlight of the trip. He had a song for every part of the tour and a pun for every occasion. I think I may have taken the wrong seat because when it went down the ramp into the water, I took a shower. At any rate, it was a great tour. After the tour, we went to Jimmy's on South Street for a cheesesteak. We waited in line for about a half hour or so to get served. After lunch our group broke up into smaller units and explored the area. Saturday morning we all went to the Philadelphia war memorials. The first was a very impressive Korean War Memorial. The memorial consisted of a statue,"The Final Farewell" and an area with highly polished stone with scenes depicting different aspects of the war, they encircled several obelisks with the names of Philadelphia's Korean war dead and missing. A fitting tribute to The Forgotten War. A short distance from the Korean War Memorial was the Vietnam War Memorial. This was where we took the group photos. When you walk into the memorial. you are surrounded by a wall of polished stone on one side with several panels with scenes taken from the Vietnam war.As you about face there are a number of steps leading up to a shorter but equally long wall engraved with Philadelphia's Vietnam War dead. All iall it was a very sobering visit. Stephen Uchniat who was very involved in making this memorial happen, gave us the tour and we got the story of how it all came together. He is very proud, and rightly so, of the tribute to those Philadelphians who paid the ultimate price. From here we again broke up into smaller groups and roamed the area. Chuck, Joe, and Ken made their way over to Camden New Jersey to tour the battleship New Jersey. We didn't see them till late that afternoon and they thoroughly enjoyed the time spent. That afternoon, Jadz and I made our way to the Liberty Bell and Independance Hall. We then kind of wandered around and went through the Betsy Ross house. By this time I had just about had my fill of walking so we went back to the hotel where we again met up with Steve and Bob and one by one everyone met up with us. (More later)

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Our hotel, the Holiday Inn Historic District, was right in the heart of Philadelphia's historic attractions. Within walking distance were the Independance Visitor Center,the Liberty Bell, Independance Hall, the Betsy Ross House, the US Mint, and Franklin Court, among others. After meeting in the hotel lounge Thursday evening, we had dinner and got to know each other. One thing that was overlooked was a sign identifying the group.

Friday morning we met for breakfast in the hotel dining room before we struck out to see the sights.We walked to the Independence Visitor Center mostly because what better place to start. It was there that we found a duck boat tour sooooo--- we got our tickets and went out to meet our WWII DUKW. Ours finally came in and unloaded the previous tour. We had our picture taken in front of the Duck to, I guess, help in identifing the bodies that might wash up on shore later in the day. The driver, all would agree, was a highlight of the trip. He had a song for every part of the tour and a pun for every occasion. I think I may have taken the wrong seat because when it went down the ramp into the water, I took a shower. At any rate, it was a great tour.

After the tour, we went to Jimmy's on South Street for a cheesesteak. We waited in line for about a half hour or so to get served.

After lunch our group broke up into smaller units and explored the area.

Saturday morning we all went to the Philadelphia war memorials. The first was a very impressive Korean War Memorial. The memorial consisted of a statue,"The Final Farewell" and an area with highly polished stone with scenes depicting different aspects of the war, they encircled several obelisks with the names of Philadelphia's Korean war dead and missing. A fitting tribute to The Forgotten War.

A short distance from the Korean War Memorial was the Vietnam War Memorial. This was where we took the group photos. When you walk into the memorial. you are surrounded by a wall of polished stone on one side with several panels with scenes taken from the Vietnam war.As you about face there are a number of steps leading up to a shorter but equally long wall engraved with Philadelphia's Vietnam War dead. All iall it was a very sobering visit. Stephen Uchniat who was very involved in making this memorial happen, gave us the tour and we got the story of how it all came together. He is very proud, and rightly so, of the tribute to those Philadelphians who paid the ultimate price.

From here we again broke up into smaller groups and roamed the area. Chuck, Joe, and Ken made their way over to Camden New Jersey to tour the battleship New Jersey. We didn't see them till late that afternoon and they thoroughly enjoyed the time spent. That afternoon, Jadz and I made our way to the Liberty Bell and Independance Hall. We then kind of wandered around and went through the Betsy Ross house. By this time I had just about had my fill of walking so we went back to the hotel where we again met up with Steve and Bob and one by one everyone met up with us. (More later)

Back