National World War II Memorial

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The Memorial at dusk
The Memorial at dusk

The National World War II Memorial is a National Memorial to Americans who served and died in World War II. It is located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on the former site of the Rainbow Pool at the eastern end of the Reflecting Pool, between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument.

It opened to the public on April 29, 2004, and was dedicated by President George W. Bush on May 29, 2004, two days before Memorial Day. The memorial is administered by the National Park Service under its National Mall and Memorial Parks group.

National World War II Memorial
IUCN Category V (Protected Landscape/Seascape)
National World War II Memorial
Location: Washington, D.C., USA
Coordinates: 38°53′22″N, 77°2′26″W
Established: May 29, 2004
Total Visitation: 4,410,379 (in 2005)
Governing body: National Park Service

Contents

[edit] History

In 1987, World War II veteran Roger Durbin approached Representative Marcy Kaptur, a Democrat from Ohio, to ask if a World War II memorial could be constructed. Kaptur introduced the World War II Memorial Act to the House of Representatives as HR 3742 on December 10. The resolution authorized the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) to establish a World War II memorial in "Washington, D.C., or its environs," but the bill was not voted on before the end of the session, so it was not passed. Two more times, in 1989 and 1991, Rep. Kaptur introduced similar legislation, but these bills suffered the same fate as the first, and did not become law.

Kaptur reintroduced legislation in the House a fourth and final time, as HR 682 on January 27, 1993, a day after Senator Strom Thurmond (a Republican from South Carolina) introduced companion Senate legislation. On March 17, 1993, the Senate approved the act, and the House approved an amended version of the bill on May 4. On May 12, the Senate also approved the amended bill, and the World War II Memorial Act was signed into law by President Bill Clinton on May 25 of that year, becoming Public Law 103-32.

[edit] Fundraising

On September 30, 1994, President Clinton appointed a 12-member Memorial Advisory Board (MAB) to advise the ABMC in site selection and design, and to promote fundraising to support memorial construction. The board was led by two co-chairs: Senator Bob Dole, a decorated World War II veteran and 1996 Republican nominee for president, and Frederick W. Smith, the president and chief executive officer of FedEx Corporation and a former U.S. Marine Corps officer. Of the $197 million raised in cash and pledges, the U.S. federal government provided about $16 million dollars.

[edit] Site selection

Aerial view of The National WWII Memorial (bottom) and the Lincoln Memorial (top)
Aerial view of The National WWII Memorial (bottom) and the Lincoln Memorial (top)

In October 1994, the president signed Joint Resolution 227 into law, mandating that the monument be located somewhere in downtown Washington, near other memorials. On January 20, 1995, the ABMC and MAB held their first joint meeting to discuss site selection. Representatives from the Commission of Fine Arts (CFA), the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC), the National Capital Memorial Commission (NCMC), and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, as well as the National Park Service, also attended the meeting.

Several sites were seriously considered and favored by the various agencies involved,[1][2] including:

Other sites considered included:

The final site selection, of the Rainbow Pool site, was made on October 5, 1995. The memorial design would incorporate the existing Rainbow pool fountain, located across 17th Street from the Washington Monument and near the Constitution Gardens site.[3]

[edit] Memorial design

Friedrich St. Florian's design was selected in 1997, but construction did not begin for another four years.

[edit] Construction

The memorial under construction (August 2002)
The memorial under construction (August 2002)

In September 2001, ground was broken for the National World War II Memorial. The memorial took more than two years to complete and opened to the public on April 29, 2004, and was dedicated on May 29. At its opening, thousands of people visited the memorial from all parts of the country. Many veterans came; currently, American World War II veterans are dying at a rate of over 1,000 per day. The memorial became a national park on November 1, when authority over it was transferred from the American Battle Monuments Commission to the National Park Service.

Many citizens liked the park-like atmosphere of the memorial. Others remarked that the plaza was symbolic of the nation's commitment to the war because it recreated the sense of community that the war stimulated within the nation.

[edit] Controversy

Critics such as the National Coalition to Save Our Mall opposed the design and the location of the memorial. The main critique of the location is that it interrupts the vista between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. It was also criticized for taking up open space that has historically been used for major demonstrations and protests.

Most irksome to the critics was the expedited approval process, which is normally quite lengthy. Congress, worried that World War II veterans were dying before an appropriate memorial was built, passed legislation exempting the National World War II Memorial from further site and design review. They also dismissed pending legal challenges to the memorial. There were also aesthetic objections to the design. A critic from the Boston Herald called the monument "vainglorious, demanding of attention and full of trite imagery."[4] The Philadelphia Inquirer said that "this pompous style was also favored by Hitler and Mussolini"[5] (see Nazi architecture). Supporters argued that the design was evocative of federal architecture during the New Deal period, being influenced by an austere interpretation of Art Deco/Beaux Arts styles.[citation needed]

[edit] Structure

The memorial consists of 56 pillars, each measuring 17 feet (5 m) tall, arranged in a semicircle around a central plaza with two 43-foot (13 m) arches on opposite sides. Each pillar is inscribed with the names of the then-48 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and the Alaska Territory and Territory of Hawaii, the Commonwealth of the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Each arch is inscribed with "Atlantic" and "Pacific." The plaza is 337 ft 10 in (103.0 m) long and 240 feet 2 inches (73.2 m) wide, is sunk 6 feet (1.8 m) below grade, and contains a pool that is 246 feet 9 inches by 147 feet 8 inches (75.2 × 45.0 m).

Due to the association of WWII Servicemen with the phrase "Kilroy was Here", the memorial includes an engraving typical of the Kilroy graffiti.

The southern end of the memorial dedicated to the Pacific theater

The northern end of the memorial, dedicated to the Atlantic theater.

Engraving of Kilroy on the WWII Memorial in Washington DC.

Close up for the engraving at the memorial.

The memorial, looking east in winter.

[edit] Freedom Wall

"Here we mark the price of freedom"—each of the 4048 gold stars represents approximately 100 Americans who died during the war.
"Here we mark the price of freedom"—each of the 4048 gold stars represents approximately 100 Americans who died during the war.

The Freedom Wall is located on the west side of the memorial, with a view of the Reflecting Pool and Lincoln Memorial behind it. The wall contains 4048 gold stars, each one representing approximately 100 American deaths incurred in the war.[6]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Forgey, Benjamin. "Site-seeking at the Mall: Placing World War II memorial in the grand scheme of things", The Washington Post, 1995 July 1, pp. C1.
  2. ^ Forgey, Benjamin. "No Accord on WWII Memorial; Two Agencies Send Mixed Signals About Location", The Washington Post, 1995 July 28, pp. B3.
  3. ^ Forgey, Benjamin. "WWII Memorial Gets Choice Mall Site; 2nd Panel Approves Location, Clearing Way for Design Phase", The Washington Post, 1995 October 6, pp. B1.
  4. ^ Thomas M. Keane, Jr.. "WWII Memorial fails both past, present", Boston Herald, June 25, 2004, p. 27.
  5. ^ Inga Saffron. "Monument to Democracy, The National World War II Memorial deserves its prominent location in Washington, as a tribute to heroes and a great cause", The Philadelphia Inquirer, May 28, 2004, p. E01.
  6. ^ Knight, Christopher. "A memorial to forget", Los Angeles Times, 2004, May 23. - Many sources state the number of stars as 4000, however there are in fact 4048 stars. The wall contains 23 panels, each with 11 columns and 16 rows of stars. The number of stars can also be counted in Image:WWII memorial stars.jpg and Image:Wwii memorial stars march 2006.jpg. See also discussion at Talk:National World War II Memorial#Number the Stars.

[edit] External links

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