Today we begin a new series of articles about the various World War Two war memorials that can be found by travelers around the world. The first of this series is the National World War II Memorial in Washington D.C.
The National World War II Memorial, as stated earlier, is located in Washington D.C., and it opened to the public on April 29, 2004. It was dedicated by President George W. Bush on May 29th of that year, and it is under the supervision of the National Park Service. Approximately five million people visit the memorial each year.
The memorial consists of fifty-six granite pillars, each standing seventeen feet tall, and they are arranged in a semi-circle around a plaza that has two triumphal arches. Each of the pillars stands for one of the forty-eight states in 1945 as well as the District of Columbia, the Alaska Territory, the Hawaii Territory, and the Commonwealths of the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Two-thirds of the 7.4 acre memorial is landscaping and water.
In 1987, World War II veteran Roger Durbin approached Representative Marcy Kaptur from Ohio with the memorial idea. Kaptur, in turn, introduced HR 3742 to the House of Representatives, seeking authorization for the construction, but the resolution was not passed in 1987, 1989 or 1991. Kaptur reintroduced the bill a fourth time as HR 682 in 1993 a day after Senator Strom Thurmond similar Senate legislation. On May 4, 1993, the legislation passed and President Clinton signed it into law on May 25, 1993. Amazingly it would then take eleven years to cut through the red tape and finally get the memorial built.
Not surprisingly, there was opposition to this memorial being built, not on political reasons but regarding the location. The final location was between the Reflecting Pool and the Lincoln Memorial, a site that had much opposition because it would disrupt the unobstructed view between those two memorials.
HiTech Creations, the makers of Aces High, the number one combat flight simulator, highly recommends you visit the World War II Memorial the next time you visit Washington D.C. It is a beautiful memorial and a fitting tribute to those brave men and women who served our country during that war.
And we invite you to try our free two-week download of Aces High. Experience the thrills and chills of World War 2 combat from the safety of your home. We also invite you to follow along with another series we post twice weekly entitled “This Day in World War Two.”
