Day 5

Our first stop today was a tour of the Marine Barracks near Navy Yard in southeast DC. The place is steeped in tradition. For example, retiring officers leave a book in the library they feel is important for other officers to read. The novels range from “Golfing for Dummies” to “Flags of Our Fathers” to a collection of Dr. Seuss’s works. Our tour guide was quite handsome and most of the girls in the group left feeling like 14 year olds at an N’SYNC concert. Starting May 1, every Friday night at 8pm the Marine band hosts concerts on the green for the public to attend.

After the tour of the barracks, we took the metro to Walter Reed Medical Center to visit the Museum of Health and Medicine. The museum hosts the bullet that killed Lincoln as well as fragments from his skull. It showcases the advances in military medicine on the battlefield and the contributions to medical technology each is known for. The War in Iraq and Afghanistan will likely be remembered for the leaps and bounds with which prosthetic limb technology has moved forward. As of now, prosthetic limbs are being built with sensors to determine if the user is running, walking, climbing upstairs and adjusts itself accordingly. This allows patients to regain mobility in a matter of days, not months. On a more heartrending note, a slab of concrete (about 10’x10’) from an emergency room in Balad, Iraq, known Bay II, has recently been installed at the museum. Bay II is known as an area in this ward where the most lives have been saved, and lost, during the Iraq War. Iodine stains, dents, and duct tape are still visible and induce a sense of sadness to know in that very location young men and women drew their last breaths while fighting for our country over the last few years.

For dinner we were invited to Kristen Cilente’s apartment for a second round of fajitas and to meet Andrea, a Captain in the USMC. After graduating high school, Andrea enlisted in the Marines to help pay for her education and has been with them for the last 12 years including two tours of duty in Iraq. She made a great story teller and engaged us all in the day to day missions she carried out while in Iraq. She made a statement how, even as a graduate student taking 5 classes and teaching 2, she has so much free time compared to the structured life she lived on active duty. Her dedication to the military and her commitment to education had us all questioning our own purpose and appreciating our education and opportunities available to us.

-Cait