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Admission: Free
The memorial will be dedicated on Saturday, May 29, 2004.
About the World War II Memorial:
Purpose of the memorial:
The memorial will honor 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 will be 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 will stand 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 for the memorial:
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 of the memorial:
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 includes George E.
Hartman of Hartman-Cox Architects, Oehme van Sweden & Associates, and
sculptor Ray Kaskey. 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.
Timeline
Construction began in September 2001. The American Battle Monuments
Commission expects the memorial to be completed in March 2004 and open to
the public in April 2004. The memorial will be dedicated on Saturday, May
29, 2004 -- Memorial Day Weekend.
Additional Information:
http://www.wwiimemorial.com/
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