National World War II Memorial
The National World War II Memorial is a National Memorial to all Americans that served in the armed forces and on the home front during 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) | |
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| Location | Washington, D.C., USA |
| Coordinates | |
| Established | May 29, 2004 |
| Total visitation | 4,410,379 (in 2005) |
| Governing body | National Park Service |
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.
Fundraising
On September 30, 1994, President Bill 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. A direct mail fundraising effort was carried out, which produced millions of dollars of donations from individual Americans. Additional large donations were made by veterans groups, including The American Legion, The Veterans of Foreign Wars, Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge and others. The majority of the corporate fundraising effort 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.
Site selection
In October 1994, Clinton signed Joint Resolution 227 into law, mandating that the monument be located in downtown Washington, near other memorials. On January 20, 1995, the ABMC and MAB held their first meeting to discuss site selection. Representatives from the United States 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:
- U.S. Capitol Reflecting Pool area – between 3rd Street and the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial.
- Constitution Gardens – east end, between Constitution Avenue and the Rainbow Pool.
- Freedom Plaza – on Pennsylvania Avenue between 14th and 15th Streets.
Other sites considered included:
- Tidal Basin – northeast side, east of the Tidal Basin parking lot and west of the 14th Street Bridge access road.
- West Potomac Park – between Ohio Drive and the north shore of the Potomac River, northwest of the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial.
- Grounds of the Washington Monument – at Constitution Avenue between 14th and 15th Streets, west of the National Museum of American History.
- Henderson Hall, adjacent to Arlington National Cemetery – this site was dropped from consideration because of its unavailability.
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]
Memorial design
In 1997, Friedrich St. Florian's initial design was selected as the winner in a nationwide competition which produced over 600 submissions. However, construction did not begin for another four years. St. Florian's design was significantly altered as a result of an extensive review and approval process, which is required of every memorial in Washington, D.C. prior to construction.
Construction and reception
In September 2001, ground was broken for the National World War II Memorial. The construction project was managed for ABMC by the General Services Administration. The memorial took more than two and a half 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.
Controversy
Critics such as the National Coalition to Save Our Mall opposed the design and the location of the memorial. A major criticism of the location is that it would interrupt what had been an unbroken view between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. The memorial was also criticized for taking up open space that had been historically used for major demonstrations and protests[4].
Critics were particularly bothered by the expedited approval process, which is normally quite lengthy[5]. The United States Congress, worried that World War II veterans were dying before an appropriate memorial could be built, passed legislation exempting the National World War II Memorial from further site and design review. Congress also dismissed pending legal challenges to the memorial[6]. There were also aesthetic objections to the design. A critic from the Boston Herald described the monument as "vainglorious, demanding of attention and full of trite imagery."[7] The Philadelphia Inquirer argued that "this pompous style was also favored by Hitler and Mussolini"[8] (see Nazi architecture).
Supporters, meanwhile, 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] Additionally, some questioned the decision to designate the circle of pillars with the names of the U.S. states, as statehood was irrelevant to the federal war effort.
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 48 U.S. states that were then part of the Union, as well as the District of Columbia, 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.
Freedom Wall
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 4,048 gold stars, each representing approximately 100 American deaths incurred in the war.[9]
 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 memorial |
 Close up for the engraving at the memorial |
 The memorial, looking east in winter |
 The Pacific Arch |
References
External links
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