New Jersey World War II Memorial - Trenton, NJ
N 40° 13.280 W 074° 46.185
18T E 519590 N 4452348
On Nov 12, 2008 , over 1900 people turned out to dedicate New Jersey's World War II memorial in Trenton. It is located in front of the Capitol Building on State Street and is the only state memorial to World War II.
Waymark Code: WM6YE7
Location: New Jersey, United States
Date Posted: 08/05/2009
Views: 9
The theme for New Jersey's World War II Memorial is "Victory." The memorial honors and pays tribute to the courage and the many sacrifices of the World War II generation as it celebrates the greatest victory our country has ever known. This brand new memorial is simply stunning, in architecture, expansiveness, artistic quality, creativeness and thoroughness. It is as much as a history lesson as it is a memorial. It is so expansiveness, it was hard to figure where it began and where it ended. The memorial is dedicated to all of our N.J. World War II veterans. State officials say more than 500,000 New Jersey residents served during World War II and about 90,000 of them still live here.
With the benefit of pictures, the reader might get a more comprehensive understanding and visual picture of this wonderful tribute to our World War II heroes. To describe it in words would simply diminish the complexity of this masterpiece. The center point or focus point of this endeavor is "Lady Victory" a stunning bronze statue in the center of this park, raised high up on a pedestal, symbolizing our victory in the second war. "Lady Victory" is a one-ton, 12-foot bronze sculpture on a 5-foot granite pedestal.
Designed to capture the courage and grace of the World War II generation, Lady Victory wields a sword in her left hand and holds high a wreath of peace in her right. As she strides forward, her left foot crushes the swastika flag of Nazi Germany with her right upon the rising sun flag of Imperial Japan.
Behind Lady Victory stands another sculpture, the Lone Soldier, a bronze life-size figure designed to represent any Soldier, Marine, Sailor or Airman. The helmeted figure moves forward to meet the enemy, his M-1 rifle at the ready. Also featured is the symbol of the fallen warrior, a sculpture of a bronze rifle planted by its bayonet in the dirt, a helmet resting atop the butt.
Encircling Lady Victory are markers recognizing the five armed forces and the Merchant Marine in which New Jersey men and women served. Each marker bears the seal of the service and the names of the 16 New Jerseyans who were awarded the Medal of Honor in World War II. At the entrance to the memorial, the flags of the five services and the Merchant Marine will wave.
Two 12-foot-high, 40-foot-long curved walls, one dedicated to the war in Europe, the other to the war in the Pacific, mark the north and south sides of the memorial. Each depicts a timeline of important events from 1939 to 1945.
Two time capsules will be buried on the site to be opened in 2145, the 200th anniversary of the end of the war.
The memorial is made predominantly of granite from Minnesota. It has cost $7.4 million to build, $6.5 million from the state and the rest from donations.