Where In The World Am I?

May 23 2012, 7:38 am

KOREAN WAR MEMORIAL

Easily one of the most dramatic memorials in DC.

From 1950 to 1953, the United States joined with the United Nations forces in Korea to take a stand against what was deemed a threat to democratic nations worldwide. At war’s end, a million and a half American veterans returned to a peacetime world  and to a country long reluctant to view the Korean War as something to memorialize. But to the men and women who served, the Korean War could never be a forgotten war.

 Viewed from above, the memorial is a circle interesected by a triangle. A group of 19 stainless-steel statues, created by World War II veteran Frank Gaylord, depicts a squad on patrol and evokes the experience of American ground troops in Korea.

A granite curb on the north side of the statues lists the 22 countries of the United Nations that sent troops in defense of South Korea. On the south side is a black granite wall. Its polished surface mirrors the statues, intermingling the reflected images with the faces etched into the granite. The etched mural is based on actual photographs of unidentified American soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines.

Numbers of those killed, wounded, missing in action, and held prisoner-of-war are etched in stone nearby. Opposite this counting of the war’s toll another granite wall bears a message inlaid in silver:

Freedom Is Not Free.