National World War II Memorial

The U.S. National World War II Memorial is a fairly new addition to the National Mall. Its construction began in 2001, and it was opened and dedicated by George W. Bush in 2004. The memorial sits on the east end of the reflecting pool, between the pool and the Washington Monument. We enjoyed our time here.

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Due to the memorial's size and design, it is impossible to capture a single photo of the entire thing. The above aerial photo shows the memorial's in full, to give you a clear understanding of its layout. The memorial is 337 feet long and 240 feet wide.

We first came upon this stone tablet. It reads:

"Here in the presence of Washington and Lincoln, one the eighteenth century father and the other the nineteenth century preserver of our nation, we honor those twentieth century Americans who took up the struggle during the Second World War and made the sacrifices to perpetuate the gift our forefathers entrusted to us. A nation conceived in liberty and justice." 

I loved this inscription and it brought forth feelings of gratitude and reverence to both Brian and I as we wandered forward through the memorial.

  

There were many quotes inscribed in the stone throughout the memorial. We took time to read each one as we circled around the plaza.

There are a total of 56 granite pillars that run around each of the oval-shaped memorial's ends. Each pillar bearss the name of one of the 50 states (although Hawaii and Alaska weren't official states yet in 1945 during the war). The remaining six pillars bear the names: District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Commonwealth of the Philippines. Each pillar rises 17 feet tall and has a bronze wreath.

There is one triumphal arch, 43 feet in height, on both the memorial's north and south ends. The south arch is labeled Pacific while the north arch is labeled Atlantic.

A ramp running in front of the row of pillars lead up to and through the arch and past the pillars on its other side.

Four bronze eagles hold a bronze wreath inside the upper portion of the arch. When standing in the arch's center you can look upwards through the wreath, through the arch's open ceiling, and see the sky above.

Embedded in the stone in the center of the arch's floor is this bronze medallion.

Stretching along the the west side of the monument, between the pillars on the Pacific end and those on the Atlantic end, is a wall covered in gold stars. It is called Freedom Wall.

The nearby plaque reads: " Freedom Wall holds 4,048 gold stars, Each gold star represents one hundred American service personnel who died or remain missing in the war. The 405,399 American dead and missing from World War II are second only to the loss of more than 620,000 Americans during our Civil War."

It was a sobering experience to see all of those gold stars.

While at the memorial, we had amazing views of the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial.

A sign near the pool asks for respect for the veterans by not wading in the pool or throwing coins in. When we walked past the memorial again on the second day of our trip, it was more crowded than before. There were people laying all around the pool on their backs with their feet dangling in the pool. It made me so mad. I just wanted to yell at them to get out of the water and show some respect! Oh it was frustrating.

Walking into the memorial on the east side, there were two walls that bore scenes cast in bronze. The various images illustrate men signing up for war, fighting, burying the dead, and coming home. The wall closest to the Atlantic arch displays scenes from the European perspective and the wall closest to the Pacific arch displays scenes from an American perspective.

This was a neat experience as both Brian and I have relatives who served during WWII. Brian's Grandpa Darrell J. Westover served in the navy and was stationed stateside in Seattle. My Grandpa Ralph D. Miller served in the army and was stationed in Korea at the end of the war working mostly in communications. My Great Grandpa Floyd (my mom's dad's dad) served in the army and was stationed in Pearl Harbor, after the Japanese attack, and worked as a carpenter for the base. I'm so glad that there is a national memorial that honors all of these brave men and their service and sacrifice for our country.