At the Korean War Veterans Memorial, "Our nation honors her sons and daughters who answered the call to defend a country they never knew and a people they never met."
Honoring the service members who served in the Korean War from 1950-1953, this memorial opened in 1995. The stainless steel soldiers represent different branches of service including Army, Marines, Navy, and Air Force. Faces on the black stone wall are those of real war veterans. Walking through the memorial, one gets the sense of walking with the soldiers, an evocative experience unique among the war memorials in DC.
(513 words)<br />The Korean War Veterans Memorial is located south of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, and north of Independence Avenue SW in the West Potomac Park of Washington, DC<br />From the intersection of westbound Independence Avenue and Daniel French Drive, SW, travel east about eighty feet along Independence Avenue. Turn left and proceed up the pedestrian walkway four hundred feet to the north. Turn right and proceed one hundred seventy feet to the Korean War Veterans Memorial north entrance.<br />The design of the Korean War Veterans Memorial is of a triangle intersecting with a circle. North and south walkways lead into the memorial through the sides of a forest area to a field of statues.<br />Nineteen stainless steel statues, all about seven feet tall, stand in patches of Juniper bushes and are separated by polished granite strips that run horizontally between them. The men are spaced about ten feet apart. The field is about one hundred feet wide at its west end and narrows to a point about one hundred fifty feet to the east.<br />The troops wear helmets and ponchos covering their weapons and equipment. Some carry rifles and radios and appear to have backpacks under their ponchos. The men are of varying ethnicities. All are generally faced towards the memorial center to the east, although some look back behind them and to the sides as they walk.<br />A polished black granite wall, about six feet tall, spans the south side of the south walkway that leads to the center of the memorial. The wall stretches east one hundred sixty-four feet towards the memorial center. Over two thousand five hundred white images of soldiers are etched along the black surface of the wall. The images of the silver military statues across the walkway also reflect in the shiny wall surface, making the nineteen statues appear to be thirty-eight.<br />Along the north edge of the northside walkway into the memorial is an angled granite curb inscribed with the names of twenty-two countries separated by an emblem of a map of the world set over a pattern of circles and lines and bracketed by a wreath.<br />Set at the east end of the memorial is a tree-lined circular plaza. In the center is a shallow circular pool, two hundred fifty feet in circumference, lined with black granite and surrounded by a grove of linden trees and seven granite benches. The pool features a one-foot waterfall around its edge.<br />The trees are trimmed to have a block-shaped leaf design and allow for six feet of clearance space underneath. An inner row of trees surrounds the pool and a second row is set about ten feet back along the outer edge of the plaza.<br />A black granite wall, about four feet tall lines the south side of an alcove that protrudes into the pool. An inscription of the north side of the wall reads:<br />FREEDOM IS NOT FREE<br />An inscription on a low angled curb on the opposite side of the alcove displays statistics on the number of US and United Nations casualties of the Korean War.<br />END OF DESCRIPTION<br />
Visitors may obtain information about the Korean War Veterans Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial at this location.
(196 words)<br />The Korean War Veterans Memorial: kiosk is located west of the Korean War Veterans Memorial, south of the Lincoln Memorial, and north of Independence Avenue SW in the West Potomac Park of Washington, DC<br />From the intersection of westbound Independence Avenue and Daniel French Drive, SW, travel east about eighty feet along Independence Avenue. Turn left and proceed up the pedestrian walkway five hundred thirty feet to the north. A tan, circular one-story building with green, octagonal roof and brown border around its roofline will be on your right, just north of a grass lawn.<br />Written across the front roofline in white letters is: Information<br />All other sides of the roofline read: Korean War Veterans Memorial<br />The structure has windows on all sides and a National Park Service attendee is available to assist visitors at the north-facing front window. The northeast side features two computer kiosks where visitors can also obtain information about the Korean War Veterans Memorial and Lincoln Memorial.<br />The northwest side features a green sign that provides information about the National Mall. A bicycle rack and water fountain are also set at this side of the building, about twenty feet to the west.<br />END OF DESCRIPTION <br />
The Pool of Remembrance is a place for quiet<br />reflection at the Korean War Veterans Memorial. Surrounded by a grove of linden trees, the pool is one of two major elements of the memorial, the first being the triangular Field of Service.
(307 words)<br />The Korean War Veterans Memorial is located south of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, and north of Independence Avenue SW in the West Potomac Park of Washington, DC.<br />From the intersection of westbound Independence Avenue and Daniel French Drive, SW, travel east about eighty feet along Independence Avenue. Turn left and proceed up the pedestrian walkway two hundred feet to the north. Turn right and travel along the walkway one hundred feet, through trees on either side.<br />As you continue south, the trees begin to clear and a group of nineteen stainless steel statues of military men stand in a field of bushes to the left. To the right of the walkway is the Korean War Veterans Memorial: Wall of Faces, a polished black granite wall that stretches one hundred sixty-four feet to the south.<br />Set at the south end of the Wall of Faces is the tree-lined circular plaza of the Pool of Remembrance.<br />The plaza contains a shallow circular pool, two hundred fifty feet in circumference, lined with black granite and surrounded by a grove of linden trees and seven granite benches. The pool features a one-foot waterfall around its edge.<br />The trees are trimmed to have a block-shaped leaf design and allow for six feet of clearance space underneath. An inner line of the trees surrounds the pool and a second row is set about ten feet back along the outer edge of the plaza.<br />A black granite wall, about four feet tall lines the south side of an alcove that protrudes into the pool. An inscription of the north side of the wall reads:<br />FREEDOM IS NOT FREE<br />An inscription on a low angled curb on the opposite side of the alcove reads:<br />DEAD<br />USA. 54,246 U.N. 628,833<br />MISSING<br />USA.<br />8,177 U.N. 470,267<br />CAPTURED<br />USA. 7,140 U.N. 92,970<br />WOUNDED<br />USA. 103,284 U.N. 1,064,453<br />END OF DESCRIPTION <br />
These stainless steel statues sculpted by Frank Gaylord represent several branches of service: Army, Marines, Navy, and Air Force. Look for two Marines carrying a machine gun and mount, the Air Force forward air observer with a fur hat, and the Navy corpsman who is not carrying a weapon. Other soldiers represent different roles in a combat patrol, from rifleman and heavy rifleman to squad leader, radioman, and forward artillery observer.
(364 words)<br />The Korean War Veterans Memorial is located south of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, and north of Independence Avenue SW in the West Potomac Park of Washington, DC.<br />From the intersection of westbound Independence Avenue and Daniel French Drive, SW, travel east about eighty feet along Independence Avenue. Turn left and proceed up the pedestrian walkway four hundred feet to the north. Turn right and proceed one hundred seventy feet to the Korean War Veterans Memorial north entrance.<br />A grass lawn sits along the left side of the walkway. To the right is a shaded tree area that runs about one hundred feet south, towards the memorial. As you approach, the trees begin to clear, and a series of stainless-steel statues appear.<br />Nineteen stainless steel statues, all about seven feet tall, stand in patches of Juniper bushes and are separated by polished granite strips that run horizontally in between them. The men are spaced about ten feet apart. The field is about one hundred feet wide at its west end and narrows to a point about one hundred fifty feet to the east.<br />The troops wear helmets and ponchos covering their weapons and equipment. Some carry rifles and radios and appear to have backpacks under their ponchos. The men are of varying ethnicities. All are generally faced towards the memorial center to the east, although some look back behind them and to the sides as they walk.<br />To their right, a polished black granite wall, about six feet tall, runs on the other side of a second walkway that leads to the center of the memorial.<br />At the east end of the field of bushes that the men walk through is an inscription on the granite plaza floor in front of them. The inscription reads:<br />OUR NATION HONORS HER SONS AND DAUGHTERS WHO ANSWERED THE CALL TO DEFEND A COUNTRY THEY NEVER KNEW AND A PEOPLE THEY NEVER MET<br />Along the north edge of the northside walkway into the memorial is an angled granite curb inscribed with the names of countries separated by an emblem of a map of the world set over a pattern of circles and lines and bracketed by a wreath.<br />END OF DESCRIPTION <br />
The United Nations wall is the granite curb on the north side of the statues. This wall lists the 22 countries that gave combat or medical support to the UN forces.
A low, angled curb lists the names of United Nations countries separated by the United Nations logo: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Ethiopia, France, Greece, India, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Republic of Korea, South Africa, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States.
The images on this wall are of real Korean War veterans, taken from photographs. They are clustered into occupational groups. From a distance the arrangement of figures forms a backdrop that looks like distant mountains behind the marching soldiers' statues.
(188 words)<br />The Korean War Veterans Memorial is located south of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, and north of Independence Avenue SW in West Potomac Park, Washington, DC<br />From the intersection of westbound Independence Avenue and Daniel French Drive, SW, travel east about eighty feet along Independence Avenue. Turn left and proceed up the pedestrian walkway two hundred feet to the north. Turn right and travel along the walkway one hundred feet, through trees on either side. As you continue, the trees begin to clear and a group of nineteen silver statues of military men stand in a field of bushes to the left. To the right of the walkway is the beginning of the Korean War Veterans Memorial: Wall of Faces.<br />The black polished granite wall stands about six feet high, consists of forty-one panels and stretches east one hundred sixty-four feet towards the memorial center. Over two thousand five hundred white images of soldiers are etched along the black surface of the wall. The images of the silver military statues across the walkway also reflect in the shiny wall surface, making the nineteen statues appear to be thirty-eight.<br />END OF DESCRIPTION <br />
