Time marches on...

[alexpgp]

Twenty-five years ago, I "cashed in" a rather impressive quantity of frequent flier miles in exchange for four round trip tickets to Europe. I recall, upon waking up in Belgium on the day after we landed, turning on the television and listening to reports of the events of Tiananmen Square, underscored by the dramatic photograph of an individual standing in the way of a column of tanks.

I recall picking up a copy of the local newspaper, which featured the image on its front page, but I've since not been able to find that memento of our trip.

It doesn't really matter, though. The image is unforgettable.

* * *
When I say "a column of tanks," I dodn't mean just the four behemoths depicted in the iconic image, but the following:

Comments

[halfshellvenus.livejournal.com]

The closeup of that man standing in front of that column of tanks still brings tears to my eyes.

I truly hate that the world did not do more to punish China, and that we chose to value cheap goods and reduced-cost manufacturing over human rights.

[kandigurl.livejournal.com]

That is just...an insane amount of tanks. It almost looks unreal.

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

oh wow I'd never seen that picture of the larger scene.