January TDY

In January I headed to the lower 48 for some TDY(temporary duty) at the tropical destination of Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Although it wasn't my first choice of locations, it turned out to be very cool.

My first stop was to explore the Buffalo Soldier Memorial which was smack dab in the middle of Leavenworth on this very pretty pond that was filled to brim with Canadian geese. It was a very cool memorial and I can imagine that it is even more beautiful in the summer when it is running.

I was lucky enough to be joined by my sister for a weekend while I was down there and we explored a little bit of Kansas City. Our favorite stop was the National World War 1 Memorial in downtown. What you can see below was part of the original museum, they have since added to it, and the kicker is it is all underneath the Liberty tower. So you have to head underground to see all of it.

When you first enter the museum you have to cross a glass bridge which is crossing a valley of Poppy flowers. I didn't realize this but the poppy flower was the symbol of hope for WWI. It was the only thing that could grow between the trenches and thus gave hope that something could grow from the destruction.

The tower itself was amazing. It had angels facing in each direction. Each angel represented something: sacrifice, patriotism, courage and honor. You can take an elevator to the top of the tower and see the view from the top. My sister wasn't a fan but it was truly amazing. The whole museum was very well done. I imagine you could go back time and time again and learn something new.