World War II Memorial
The National World War II Memorial is dedicated to the millions of Americans who served both in the armed forces and as civilians in World War II. It was signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1993, and opened to the public in 2004. Built around the rebuilt Rainbow Pool at the east end of the Reflecting Pool, it stands between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument on the National Mall. It was designed by Freidrich St. Florian in a style reminiscent of the fusion of architectural classicism and modernism typical of the WWII era.
- Count the thousands of Gold Stars on the Freedom Wall, each star representing 100 Americans of the over 400,000 killed in the war
- Follow the 56 granite pillars, each bearing a name of one of the 48 states of the US at the time of the war, plus the District of Columbia, the Alaska Territory, the Territory of Hawaii, the Commonwealth of the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, and the US Virgin Islands, representing the commitment of the entire nation to the fight against fascism
- Rest under the two pavilions, one representing the Atlantic Theater and one representing the Pacific Theater of WWII
For more information, visit the websites at
www.nps.gov and
www.wwiimemorial.com.
