DC Memorials

Up DC Memorials Ice Hockey Smithsonians White House Cherry Blossoms Marine Parade US Capitol

If seeing memorials is your thing, then Washington DC is the place to visit. Every where you turn there is a memorial or monument to someone or something. I'm sure we'll get to all of them in our three years here. Here are the ones we've been to so far.

Washington Monument

The Washington Monument is a large, white-coloured obelisk located about half way down the National Mall and a United States Presidential Memorial constructed for George Washington. It's among the world's tallest masonry structures, standing 555 feet (169m) in height (or there abouts) and is made of marble, granite and sandstone. Construction began in 1848 but due to a lack of funds and a little tiff call the American Civil War it was not finished until 1884. A difference in shading of the marble (visible approximately 150 feet (45m) up clearly delineates the two periods of construction.

 

Looking at the Washington Monument from the WW2 Memorial

 

 

Looking back at the Washington Monument from the Lincoln Memorial

Lincoln Memorial

This United States Presidential Memorial was built to honour the 16th President Abraham Lincoln. Built in the form of a Greek Doric temple, it contains a large seated sculpture of Abraham Lincoln and the inscriptions of two well-known speeches by Lincoln. The first is his Gettysburg address (Four scores and seven years ago....) and the second is his second inaugural speech.

An association was formed by the US Congress in 1867 to build a memorial to Lincoln however the site was not chosen until 1901, the design authorised in 1911, the first stone put in place in 1915 and the monument dedicated in 1922. It's good to see things were no different back then than they are today with things taking so long.

Standing at the top of the steps you feel dwarfed by the impressive structure. It is very recognisable, having countless movies filmed on the steps of the monument. It was also the site of Martin Luther King's famous "I have a dream" speech. Of course who could remember when Forrest Gump and Jenny were reunited in the reflection pool out the front of the monument!!!!

Carol walking up those very famous and well filmed steps to the Lincoln Memorial
The inscription reads - "In this temple as in the hearts of the people for whom he saved the Union the memory of Abraham Lincoln is enshrined forever".
 
Looking back at the Lincoln Memorial from the WW2 Memorial

World War 2 Memorial

This memorial is located at the opposite end of the reflection pool to the Lincoln Memorial and was opened to the public in April 2004. This is the newest memorial around the DC area and is certainly very impressive.

Vietnam Memorial

The memorial currently consists of three separate parts: the Three Soldiers statue, the Vietnam Women's Memorial and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, which is the most recognisable part. The main memorial was completed in 1982 and is located a short walk from the Lincoln Memorial.

The main memorial wall consists of the names of all US servicemen and women killed in action or still missing during the Vietnam conflict. The are inscribed on the wall in date order that the fell and is a very somber memorial as there are lots of names in very small writing. It adds a personnel quality to the memorial that most others do not have.