DUPLICATE WAYMARK must delete - World War II Memorials / Monuments on Waymarking.com

The memorial honors the 16 million who served in the armed forces of the U.S. during World War II, the more than 400,000 who died, and the millions who supported the war effort from home. Symbolic of the defining event of the 20th Century, the memorial is a monument to the spirit, sacrifice, and commitment of the American people to the common defense of the nation and to the broader causes of peace and freedom from tyranny throughout the world. It will inspire future generations of Americans, deepening their appreciation of what the World War II generation accomplished in securing freedom and democracy. Above all, the memorial stands as an important symbol of American national unity, a timeless reminder of the moral strength and awesome power that can flow when a free people are at once united and bonded together in a common and just cause.

Site

The first step in establishing the memorial was the selection of an appropriate site. Congress provided legislative authority for siting the memorial in the prime area of the national capital, known as Area I, which includes the National Mall. The National Park Service, the Commission of Fine Arts, and the National Capital Planning Commission approved selection of the Rainbow Pool site at the east end of the Reflecting Pool between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument. President Clinton dedicated the memorial site during a formal ceremony on Veterans Day 1995.

Design

ABMC engaged the General Services Administration’s (GSA) Public Buildings Service to act as its agent to manage the memorial project. The design submitted by Friedrich St.Florian, an architect based in Providence, R.I., was selected as one of six semi-finalists in an open, national competition. Leo A Daly, an international architecture firm, assembled the winning team with St.Florian as the design architect. The team also included George E. Hartman of Hartman-Cox Architects, landscape architect Oehme van Sweden & Associates, sculptor Ray Kaskey, and stone carver and letterer Nick Benson. St.Florian’s memorial design concept was approved by the Commission of Fine Arts and the National Capital Planning Commission in the summer of 1998. The commissions approved the preliminary design in 1999, the final architectural design and several ancillary elements in 2000, granite selections in 2001, and sculpture and inscriptions in 2002 and 2003.

Fund-raising Campaign

The memorial was funded primarily by private contributions. The fund-raising campaign was led by National Chairman Senator Bob Dole and National Co-Chairman Frederick W. Smith.

Senator Dole, a World War II veteran seriously wounded on the battlefield and twice decorated with the Bronze Star and Purple Heart, was the Republican nominee for president in 1996 and the longest-serving Republican Leader in the U.S. Senate.

Frederick W. Smith is chairman, president and chief executive officer of FedEx Corporation, a global transportation and logistics holding company. He is a graduate of Yale and a former U.S. Marine Corps officer, and serves on the boards of various transport, industry and civic organizations.

The memorial received more than $197 million in cash and pledges. This total includes $16 million provided by the federal government.

Timeline

Construction began in September 2001. The memorial opened to the public on April 29, 2004, and was dedicated on Saturday, May 29, 2004. The memorial became part of the National Park System on Nov. 1, 2004, when it was transferred from the American Battle Monuments Commission to the National Park Service, which now operates and maintains the memorial.

ABMC

The American Battle Monuments Commission is an independent, executive branch agency with 11 commissioners and a secretary appointed by the president. The ABMC administers, operates and maintains 24 permanent U.S. military cemeteries and 25 memorial structures in 15 countries around the world. The commission is also responsible for the establishment of other memorials in the U.S. as directed by Congress.

Copied from FAQ page from Website listed below

Date of Dedication: 05/29/2004 Property Permission: Public Access instructions: It is located on 17th Street, between Constitution and Independence Avenues, and is flanked by the Washington Monument to the east and the Lincoln Memorial to the west Access times: From: 12:00 AM To: 12:00 AM Website for Waymark: [Web Link] Location of waymark: 17th Street National Mall Washington, District of Columbia USA 20024 Commemoration: The World War II Memorial honors the 16 million who served in the armed forces of the U.S., the more than 400,000 who died, and all who supported the war effort from home.

Visit Instructions:
Include a photo containing, at minimum, the monument and your GPSr. We'd prefer a photo containing YOU at the monument, but we understand that some people are camera-shy.
Also include a bit about your visit here.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   01/13/2024 eilers1 visited it 11/22/2023 new.neo visited it 11/09/2022 BeayPepe visited it 10/06/2021 petendot visited it 02/21/2020 The Snowdog visited it 05/22/2019 jiggs11 visited it 04/06/2019 bluesnote visited it 05/23/2017 YoSam. visited it 08/09/2016 ToRo61 visited it 05/17/2016 dkestrel visited it 06/19/2015 mspgenealogy visited it 05/21/2015 stinger503 visited it 05/16/2015 shell1fish visited it 02/27/2015 adenium visited it 01/27/2015 CHI-TOWN ROMEO visited it 11/28/2014 Castor007 visited it 08/26/2014 m&m O visited it 08/23/2014 Sneakin Deacon visited it 08/13/2014 LeGrandChrist visited it 03/26/2014 kingbee visited it 12/15/2013 Prytz+1 visited it 11/11/2013 dadako visited it 07/14/2013 DocDTA visited it 08/15/2012 SAS & cie visited it 07/18/2012 ArmyFamily4 visited it

View all visits/logs