RetNavyCWO Loc: VA suburb of DC

Very cool stuff!

http://www.buzzfeed.com/bennyjohnson/inside-the-armys-spectacular-hidden-treasure-room

Patty

:thumbup: The art work is very telling. We need to stop killing people and learn to work together in this world. I have traveled to many countries and learned that this planet is not as big as people think it is. What each of us does effects others.

Artemis

The museum will be great, but why did they wait so long? We could have been enjoying these artifacts soon after post WWII. many who are now gone. I think they would have greatly appreciated it. Can't we ever start small and build?

RetNavyCWO Loc: VA suburb of DC

I don't know. In this particular case, they have/had SO MUCH stuff that it would be hard to start small and build. Some of their pieces are undoubtedly already displayed at various government buildings around the country. The Pentagon, for instance, has loads of incredibly beautiful artwork hanging in the offices and hallways of the E-Ring (where the mucky-mucks' offices are). When I used to work there, I would always hear oohs and ahs from tourists on group tours. I agree with you that it's a shame that so many soldiers who fought in those wars were never able to see all of it.

The Army Historical Foundation has only $76m of the $175 million required to build their museum and say they expect to be able to OPEN the museum in 2018. I have my doubts that they can raise that much more money that quickly AND build the museum, but I wish them well with it. I live less than 2 miles from Fort Belvoir, so I hope I can go see it after it opens...I love this kind of stuff!

RetNavyCWO Loc: VA suburb of DC

I agree, Patty. For about half of my Navy career, I was an admin assistant to a couple of 4-star admirals and traveled quite a bit with them. I visited more than 80 foreign cities in over 35 different countries with them. When you zip around the world like that, it does seem awfully small...and it's not an exaggeration to say that I felt like kissing the ground on good ole American terra firma every time we returned home. America is exceptional in many, many ways!

Patty

I missed the people the most when I was away. How bout you?

RetNavyCWO Loc: VA suburb of DC

If "people" means "language and all things familiar", yep. It's an uncomfortable feeling being in a place in which you don't speak the language and locals don't speak English. I also missed familiar food! Depending on the country we were going to visit, I and one or two others on the staff would study the language using tapes. I usually only learned how to tell which dishes on a restaurant menu were chicken or beef, how to barter prices with merchants, and how to ask for my room key at the hotel, but that was about it. Even when I could identify chicken or beef, I couldn't usually tell how they were going to be cooked. Got surprised quite a few times!

So...I missed American people, certainly, but familiar food was a close second!

Patty

Did you learn the hard way as I did that no matter how long they cook it if it stays reddish in color its horse?

RetNavyCWO Loc: VA suburb of DC

LOL! No, Patty, I didn't learn that. I don't think I have ever eaten horse. Dog, yes, but not horse. (Yeah...eating dog seems gross to me now, but I had the opportunity to try it one time during a visit to the Philippines, so I did. Made me feel anxious and clammy and hot...which is what they like about it. The Philippines don't have a problem with stray dogs. They call them dinner!)