Korean War Veterans Memorial

The Korean War Veterans Memorial sits southeast of the Lincoln Memorial, across the reflecting pool from the Vietnam Memorial. This memorial's dedication occurred on July 27, 1995, the 42nd anniversary of the signing of the armistice that ended the Korean War.Both President Bill Clinton and South Korea's President Kim Young Sam took part in the dedication. 

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We walked over to the Korean Memorial from the Vietnam Memorial, coming up to it from behind. 

First, we made our way over to the black granite wall running along its southern side. The granite is from California and is 8 inches thick. 

Sandblasted onto the wall's entire 164-foot long surface, are images from actual photographs of soldiers who fought in the war. Seeing all those faces looking out at you as you walk up the pathway is a stirring experience.

The 19 statues that stand in the memorial's triangular portion just broke my heart. Their countenances and postures convey the weariness, fear, sacrifice, and weight of the burdens that the soldiers who served during the Korean War must have felt. They were very haunting. The juniper bushes at their feet worked well to give the appearance of fighting through thick vegetation and brush. Each statue was looking in a different direction, meant to convey that they are keeping watch as they patrol onward.

Each statue is over 7 feet tall and is made of stainless steel. Fourteen of the soldiers are designed to represent the army, one the navy, three the marines, and one the air force. When standing on the north side of the memorial, with the soldiers between you and the wall, you see the 19 soldiers plus their 19 reflections on the wall's granite, giving the appearance of 38 soldiers. This is symbolic of the 38th parallel, the point at which South Korea and North Korea are divided.  

Two of my paternal grandpa's brothers served in the Korean War. They endured fighting, along with all manner of deprivations and discomforts. Although one was wounded in the back with shrapnel, they both returned home alive and well. These statues brought a bit of what they must have suffered and endured to reality for me.

Inscribed in a stone block that is embedded in the ground at the triangular section's top point are the words: "Our nation honors her sons and daughters who answered the call to defend a country they never knew and a people they never met." We were already feeling emotional after looking at the soldiers, and this just heightened those emotions.

The circular portion of the memorial at the top of the triangle consists of a granite wall surrounded by three-quarters of a circular reflecting pool. I thought we had taken a picture of the front of the pool, but I guess we only got the back side.

The pool area was very beautiful and peaceful. There were a couple of sleeping ducks floating in the water. Linden trees surround the pool area, and we sat on a bench below the trees for awhile to not only rest our feet, but to take it all in.

The front ledge of the pool bears the inscriptions of the numbers of U.S. and United Nation casualties suffered in the Korean War:

Dead: U.S. - 54,246; U.N. - 628,833

Wounded: U.S. - 103,284; U.N. 1,064,453

Captured: U.S. - 7,140; U.N. - 92,970

Missing: U.S. - 8,177; U.N. - 470,267

It was a very striking memorial and we had a nice experience there. I just am in awe of all the men and women in our country who have, and do step up to the task and put their lives on hold, some giving up their lives entirely, to make the world a better place.