David
Fri March 28, 2003 2:47pm
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A radar-avoiding U.S. B-2
A radar-avoiding U.S. B-2 bomber dropped two earth-shattering 4,600-pound 'bunker-buster' bombs on Friday on a major link in Iraq's communications network in downtown Baghdad, defense officials said. It was believed to be the first use of the big bombs on Baghdad. Allied jets have pounded targets in the Iraqi capital with hundreds of bombs and missiles in the week-old war to depose President Saddam Hussein.
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David
Thu April 17, 2003 1:48pm
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The lunch crowd at B & N
Friday, April 4, 2003, The lunch crowd at B & N Food Market chat Thursday in Bagdad, Ky. From left, Mack Upchurch talks with Fred Ruble as Robert Mercke grabs some ketchup. Bob Mason, center, talks with J.W. Miles as Wayne Hundley concentrates on his food. The town is one of at least 10 Bagdads in a handful of U.S. states.
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David
Thu April 17, 2003 2:00pm
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A British soldier holds a
Saturday, April 5, 2003, A British soldier holds a catalogue of photographs of dead people, as coffin-sized boxes with bags containing human remains are lined up in a warehouse at an abandoned Iraqi military base in Zubayr, southern Iraq, on Saturday. British forces said Saturday they had found an estimated 200 coffin-sized boxes containing hundreds of human remains along with a catalogue of photographs of the dead. Capt. Jack Kemp of the Royal Horse Artillery said he believed the people had been dead for several years.
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David
Thu April 17, 2003 4:12pm
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A U.S. Army 3rd Infantry
Sunday, April 6, 2003, A U.S. Army 3rd Infantry M1A1 Abrams tank with "Baghdad's nightmare" stenciled on its cannon passes troops relaxing near the Euphrates River as hundreds of armored vehicles push toward the outskirts of Baghdad early Sunday.
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David
Fri April 18, 2003 11:21am
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As seen from the east ban
Thursday, April 10, 2003, As seen from the east bank of the Tigris river, smoke bellows from a burning hotel near the Information Ministry in Bagdhad on Thursday. Hundreds looted the hotel as U.S. forces watched.
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David
Thu January 8, 2004 3:22pm
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Fourteenth Armored Divisi
Worn from 15 November 1942 to 16 September 1945
Tab: "Black Cat"
Activated at Camp Chaffee, Arkansas. The Arabic number fourteen shows the division's designation. The tab refers to the hundreds of thousands of POW's and slave laborers liberated by the division from Nazi concentration camps. During two campaigns and 167 days of combat, the men of the Liberator Division had freed an estimated 200,000 Allied prisoners of war and an additional 250,000 slave laborers and displaced persons with a loss of 2,690 killed and wounded.
Campaigns: WWII (Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, Central Europe)
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David
Sun February 27, 2005 11:15pm
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France, prior to the Hund
France, prior to the Hundred Years War, 1314
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David
Mon July 25, 2005 11:17am
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Epinal American Cemetery
The World War II Epinal American Cemetery and Memorial is located approximately four miles southeast of Epinal (Vosges), France on Road D-157 in the village of Dinoze-Quequement. It can be reached by automobile via toll Autoroute A-4 eastward to the Nancy Exit. Take Highway N-57 and exit at Arches-Dinoze. Rail service is available from Gare de l'Est, Paris via Nancy, where it may be necessary to change trains. The journey by train takes about five hours. Air travel is available from Paris to the Epinal-Mirecourt Airport. Travel by air takes forty-five minutes. Adequate hotel accommodations and taxi service can be found in Epinal and vicinity.
The cemetery, forty-eight acres in extent, is located on a plateau one hundred feet above the Moselle River in the foothills of the Vosges Mountains. It contains the graves of 5,255 American military Dead. It was established in October 1944 by the 46th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company of the U.S. Seventh Army as it drove northward from southern France through the Rhone Valley into Germany. The cemetery became the repository for the fatalities in the bitter fighting through the Heasbourg Gap during the winter of 1944-45.
The memorial, a rectangular structure with two large bas-relief panels, consist of a chapel, portico and museum room with its mosaic operations map. On the walls of the Court of Honor, which surround the memorial, are inscribed the names of 424 Americans who gave their lives in the service of their country and who rest in unknown graves.
Stretching northward is a wide tree-lined mall that separates two large burial plots. At the northern end of the mall the circular flagpole plaza forms an overlook affording a view of a wide sweep of the Moselle valley.
On May 12, 1958, thirteen caskets draped with American flags were placed side by side at the memorial at Epinal American Cemetery. Each casket contained the remains of one World War II "Unknown" American serviceman; one from each of the thirteen permanent American military cemeteries in the European Theater of Operations. In a solemn ceremony, General Edward J. O'Neill, Commanding General of the U.S. Army Communication Zone, Europe, selected the "Unknown" to represent the European Theater. It was flown to Naples, Italy and placed with "Unknowns" from the Atlantic and Pacific Theaters of Operation aboard the USS Blandy for transportation to Washington, DC for final selection of the "Unknown" from World War II. On Memorial Day, 1958, this "Unknown" was buried alongside the "Unknown" from World War I at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.
The Epinal cemetery is open daily to the public from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm except December 25 and January 1. It is open on host country holidays. When the cemetery is open to the public, a staff member is on duty in the Visitors? Building to answer questions and escort relatives to grave and memorial sites.
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David
Mon July 25, 2005 11:19am
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Florence American Cemeter
The World War II Florence American Cemetery and Memorial is located on the west side of Via Cassia, about seven and a half miles south of Florence, Italy. The Rome-Milan highway (Autostrada) passes near the cemetery. Its Certosa-Florence exit is two miles to the north. There is excellent train service to Florence from the principal cities in Italy. It is also served by some of the international trains. The "SITA" bus station provides frequent bus service along Via Cassia. There is a bus stop conveniently located just outside the cemetery gate.
The site covers seventy acres, chiefly on the west side of the Greve River. The wooded hills which frame its west limit rise several hundred feet. Between the two entrance buildings a bridge leads to the burial area with the headstones of 4,402 American military Dead, representing thirty-nine percent of the U.S. Fifth Army burials originally made between Rome and the Alps. Most died in the fighting which occurred after the capture of Rome in June 1944. Included among them are casualties of the heavy fighting in the Apennines shortly before the war's end. On May 2, 1945, the enemy troops in northern Italy surrendered. At Florence, the headstones are arrayed in symmetrical curved rows upon the hillside. Above the burial area on the topmost of three broad terraces stands the memorial marked by a tall pylon surmounted by a large sculptured figure. The memorial has two open atria or courts joined by the Tablets of the Missing upon which are inscribed the names of 1,409 Americans who gave their lives in the service of their country and who rest in unknown graves.
The atrium at the south end of the Tablets of the Missing serves as a forecourt to the chapel which is decorated with marble and mosaic. The north atrium contains the marble operations maps recording the achievements of the American Armed Forces in this region during World War II.
The cemetery is open daily to the public from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm except December 25 and January 1. It is open on host country holidays. When the cemetery is open to the public, a staff member is on duty in the Visitors? Building to answer questions and escort relatives to grave and memorial sites.
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David
Mon July 25, 2005 11:22am
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Lorraine American Cemeter
The World War II Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial is located three quarters of a mile north of the town of St. Avold (Moselle), France on Highway N-33. St. Avold, which is twenty-eight miles east of Metz and seventeen miles southwest of Saarbrucken, can be reached by automobile from Paris via toll Autoroute A in about four hours. Trains from Paris (Gare de l'Est) take about three and a half hours to the St. Avold Station, which is three miles from the cemetery. There are hotels at St. Avold, Forbach, Saarbrucken and Metz.
The cemetery, one hundred and thirteen acres in extent, contains 10,489 American Dead, the largest number in our World War II military cemeteries in Europe. Most of the Dead here were killed while driving the German forces from the fortress city of Metz toward the Siegfried Line and the Rhine River. Initially, there were over 16,000 Americans interred in the St. Avold region, mostly from the U.S. Seventh Army's Infantry and Armored Divisions and its Cavalry Groups. Their headstones are arranged in nine plots in a generally elliptical design extending over the beautiful rolling terrain of eastern Lorraine and culminating in a prominent overlook feature. St. Avold served as a vital communications center for the vast network of enemy defenses guarding the western border of the Third Reich.
The memorial, which stands on a plateau to the west of the burial area, contains ceramic operations maps with narratives and service flags. High on its exterior wall is the figure of St. Nabor, a martyred Roman soldier, who overlooks the silent host. On each side of the memorial, and parallel to its front, stretch the Tablets of the Missing on which are inscribed the names of 444 Americans who gave their lives in the service of their country but whose remains were not recovered or identified. The entire area is framed in woodland.
The cemetery is open daily to the public from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm except December 25 and January 1. It is open on host country holidays. When the cemetery is open to the public, a staff member is on duty in the Visitors? Building to answer questions and escort relatives to grave and memorial sites.
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David
Mon July 25, 2005 11:24am
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Manila American Cemetery
The World War II Manila American Cemetery and Memorial is located about six miles southeast of Manila, Republic of the Philippines within the limits of Fort Bonifacio, the former U.S. Army Fort William McKinley. It can be reached easily from the city by taxicab.
The cemetery, one hundred and fifty-two acres in extent, is on a prominent plateau, visible at a distance from the east, south and west. It contains the largest number of graves of our military Dead of World War II, a total of 17,206, most of whom gave their lives in the operations in New Guinea and the Philippines. The headstones are aligned in eleven plots forming a generally circular pattern, set among masses of a wide variety of tropical trees and shrubbery.
The chapel, a tall stone structure enriched with sculpture and mosaic, stands near the center of the cemetery. In front of it on a wide terrace are two large hemicycles with rooms at each end. Twenty-five large mosaic maps in these four rooms recall the achievements of the American Armed Forces in the Pacific, China, India and Burma. On rectangular Trani limestone piers within the hemicycles are inscribed the names of 36,282 of the Missing who gave their lives in the service of America and who rest in unknown graves. Carved in the floors are the seals of the American states and its territories.
From the memorial and other points within the cemetery there are impressive views over the lowlands to Laguna de Bay and towards the distant mountains.
The cemetery is open daily to the public from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm except December 25 and January 1. It is open on host country holidays. When the cemetery is open to the public, a staff member is on duty in the Visitors? Building to answer questions and escort relatives to grave and memorial sites.
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David
Mon July 25, 2005 11:25am
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Meuse-Argonne American Ce
The World War I Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery and Memorial is located east of the village of Romagne-sous-Montfaucon (Meuse), France and about twenty-six miles northwest of Verdun. It may be reached by automobile from Paris via toll Autoroute A-4 or Highway N-3 to Ste. Menehould, about one hundred and fifty-two miles. Follow Highway N-3 to Clermont-en-Argonne, then via Varennes-en-Argonne about nineteen miles to the cemetery. It may also be reached from Verdun via Consenvoye or Dun-sur-Meuse, a distance of about twenty-seven miles. Rail service from Paris (Gare de l'Est) to Verdun takes about three and a half hours. Hotels and taxis are available at Verdun.
Meuse-Argonne, covering one hundred and thirty acres, holds the largest number of American Dead in Europe, a total of 14,246. Most of those buried here gave their lives during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive of World War I. The immense array of headstones rises in rectangular rows upwards beyond a wide central pool to the chapel which crowns a ridge. A beautiful bronze screen separates the chapel foyer from the interior, which is decorated with stained glass windows portraying American unit insignia. Behind the altar are the flags of the Allied nations.
On either side of the chapel are memorial loggias. One panel of the west loggia contains a map of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. Inscribed on the remaining panels are the names of the 954 American Missing whose remains were never recovered or identified to include those Missing during our expedition to northern Russia during 1918-1919.
The cemetery is open daily to the public from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm except December 25 and January 1. It is open on host country holidays. When the cemetery is open to the public, a staff member is on duty in the Visitors? Building to answer questions and escort relatives to grave and memorial sites.
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David
Mon July 25, 2005 11:34am
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Normandy American Cemeter
The World War II Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial is situated on a cliff overlooking Omaha Beach and the English Channel in Colleville-sur Mer, France. It is just east of St. Laurent-sur-Mer and northwest of Bayeux about one hundred and seventy miles west of Paris. The cemetery may be reached from Paris by automobile via Highway A-13 to Caen, then Highway N-13 through Bayeux to Formigny, then following D-517 to St. Laurent-sur-Mer and D-514 to Colleville-sur-Mer. A large stone directional sign designates the cemetery entrance. There is regular rail service between Paris (Gare St. Lazare) and Bayeux, where taxicabs and tour bus service are available. Travel by rail takes three hours. Hotels are available in Bayeux and Port-en-Bessin. The cemetery is located on the site of the temporary American St. Laurent Cemetery, established by the U.S. First Army on June 8, 1944, the first American cemetery on European soil in World War II.
The cemetery is at the north end of its one half mile access road and covers one hundred and seventy-two acres. It contains the graves of 9,387 American military Dead, most of whom gave their lives during the landings and ensuing operations of World War II.
On the walls of the semicircular garden on the east side of the memorial are inscribed the names of 1,557 American Missing who gave their lives in the service of their country, but whose remains were not located or identified. The memorial consists of a semicircular colonnade with a loggia at each end containing maps and narratives of the military operations. At the center is a bronze statue titled, "Spirit of American Youth." An orientation table overlooks the beach and depicts the landings at Normandy. Facing west at the memorial, one sees in the foreground the reflecting pool, the mall with burial areas to either side and the circular chapel beyond. Behind the chapel are statues representing the United States and France.
The cemetery is open daily to the public from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm except December 25 and January 1. It is open on host country holidays. When the cemetery is open to the public, a staff member is on duty in the Visitors? Building to answer questions and escort relatives to grave and memorial sites.
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David
Mon July 25, 2005 11:58am
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World War II Memorial
National WWII Memorial
Visiting the Memorial
The memorial opened to the public on April 29, 2004 and was dedicated one month later on May 29. 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. The memorial is now operated by the National Park Service and is open to visitors 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Authorization
President Clinton signed Public Law 103-32 on May 25, 1993, authorizing the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) to establish a World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., or its environs. It will be the first national memorial dedicated to all who served during World War II and acknowledging the commitment and achievement of the entire nation.
The law also authorized the president to appoint a Memorial Advisory Board to offer advice to the ABMC on site selection and design of the memorial, as well as to perform its primary duty of promoting and encouraging private donations for the building of the memorial. The board was appointed in September 1994, and works under the chairmanship of Pete Wheeler, commissioner of veterans affairs of the state of Georgia.
Purpose
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
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 includes George E. Hartman of Hartman-Cox Architects, 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.
Fundraising Campaign
The memorial is 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 $17 billion 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 $195 million in cash and pledges. This total includes $16 million provided by the federal government.
Timeline
Construction began in September 2001, and the memorial opened to the public on April 29, 2004. The memorial will be dedicated on Saturday, May 29, 2004.
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, including three memorials in the United States. The commission is also responsible for the establishment of other memorials in the U.S. as directed by Congress.
Chronology
In 1993, the Congress passed legislation authorizing the building of a National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., or its immediate environs. The authorizing legislation was signed into law by the President on May 25, 1993. The responsibility for designing and constructing the memorial was given to the American Battle Monuments Commission, an independent federal agency created by law in 1923. The memorial will honor all who served in the American armed services during World War II and the entire nation's contribution to the war effort. The following summary highlights key events in the history of the project.
1987 - 1993
Dec 10, '87 - Representative Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) introduces legislation to authorize establishing a memorial on federal land in the District of Columbia or its environs. Similar legislation was introduced in 1989, 1991 and 1993.
May 25, '93 - President Clinton signs Public Law 103-32 authorizing the American Battle Monuments Commission to establish a World War II Memorial in the District or its environs.
1994
Sep 30 - The President appoints a 12-member Memorial Advisory Board (MAB), as authorized in Public Law 103-32, to advise the ABMC in site selection and design, and to promote donations to support memorial construction.
Oct 6-7 - The House and Senate pass Joint Resolution 227 approving location of the World War II Memorial in the Capital?s monumental core area because of its lasting historic significance to the nation. The President signed the resolution into law on October 25th.
1995
Jan 20 - ABMC and MAB hold their first joint site selection session attended by representatives of the Commission of Fine Arts (CFA), the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC), the National Capital Memorial Commission (NCMC), the National Park Service (NPS), and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Seven potential sites are visited:
Capitol Reflecting Pool area (between 3rd Street and the Reflecting Pool)
Tidal Basin (northeast side, east of the Tidal Basin parking lot and west of the 14th Street Bridge access road)
West Potomac Park (between Ohio Drive and the northern shore of the Potomac River, northwest of the FDR Memorial site)
Constitution Gardens (east end, between Constitution Avenue and the Rainbow Pool)
Washington Monument grounds (at Constitution Avenue between 14th and 15th Streets, west of the Museum of American History)
Freedom Plaza (on Pennsylvania Avenue between 14th and 15th Streets)
Henderson Hall, adjacent to Arlington National Cemetery (Henderson Hall was dropped from consideration because of its unavailability).
Mar 2 - The ABMC and MAB unanimously select the Constitution Gardens site as the most appropriate one out of the six alternatives.
May 9 & Jun 20 - The NCMC holds public hearings on the site for the World War II Memorial with consideration given to both the Constitution Gardens site and the Capitol Reflecting Pool site on Third Street.
Jul 27 - The CFA concludes after a public hearing that the Constitution Gardens site would not be commensurate with the historical significance of World War II, and requests that further consideration be given to the Capitol Reflecting Pool and Freedom Plaza along with a new alternative, the traffic circle on Columbia Island on the Lincoln Memorial-Arlington Cemetery axis. The Rainbow Pool is discussed as a possible alternative site.
Aug 6 - The ABMC proposes to the chairmen of the CFA, NCPC and NPS that the Rainbow Pool site with space on both sides of the pool be studied as a replacement for the Constitution Gardens site.
Sep 19 - In a public meeting, the CFA unanimously approves the Rainbow Pool site with the understanding that design guidelines be developed in consultation with them.
Oct 5 - During a public meeting, the NCPC approves the Rainbow Pool site on the condition that the Mall?s east-west vista formed by the elm trees bordering the Reflecting Pool would be preserved.
Nov 11 - The President dedicates the memorial site in a formal ceremony that concludes the 50th Anniversary of World War II commemorations. A plaque marks the site as the future location of the World War II Memorial.
1996
Apr 19 - The ABMC and General Services Administration (GSA), acting as agent for the ABMC, announce a two-stage open design competition for the memorial that closed on Aug 12th.
Aug 15-16 - Four hundred and four entries are reviewed by a distinguished Evaluation Board that selects six competition finalists. The second stage competition closes on Oct 25th.
Oct 29 - A Design Jury composed of distinguished architects, landscape architects, architectural critics and WWII veterans review the designs of the six finalists.
Oct 30-31 - The Evaluation Board evaluates finalist design submissions and interviews the six design teams. Both the Design Jury and the Evaluation Board, independently of each other, recommend unanimously that the Leo A. Daly team with Friedrich St. Florian as design architect be selected. ABMC approves the recommendation on Nov 20th.
1997
Jan 17 - The President announces St. Florian?s winning memorial design during a White House ceremony.
Mar 19 - Senator Bob Dole is named National Chairman of the memorial campaign.
Jul 24 - In a public hearing, the CFA approves many elements of the design concept, but voices strong concern over the mass and scale and the interior space of the concept as presented. The CFA requests that the design be given further study and resubmitted at a later date, but unanimously reaffirms the Rainbow Pool site.
Jul 31 - In a public hearing, the NCPC reaffirms its approval of the Rainbow Pool site, but requests design modifications and an analysis of various environmental considerations prior to the commission's further action on a revised design concept.
Aug 19 - ABMC announces that Frederick W. Smith, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Federal Express Corporation, will team with Senator Dole as National Co-Chairman of the World War II Memorial Campaign.
1998
Apr 7 - ABMC approves the recommendation of its Site and Design Committee that St. Florian?s revised design concept be forwarded to the CFA, the NCPC and the District of Columbia?s Historic Preservation Office for their action.
May 21 - In a public hearing, the CFA approves the revised design concept.
Jul 9 - In a public hearing, the NCPC approves the revised design concept.
1999
Apr 21 - ABMC approves the recommendation of its Site and Design Committee that St. Florian?s preliminary design be forwarded to the CFA and NCPC for their action.
May 20 - In a public hearing, the CFA approves the memorial?s preliminary design.
Jun 3 - In a public hearing, the NCPC approves the memorial's preliminary design.
2000
Jul 20 - In a public hearing, the CFA approves the memorial?s final architectural design.
Sep 21 - In a public hearing, the NCPC approves the memorial?s final architectural design.
Nov 11 - A groundbreaking ceremony attended by 15,000 people is held at the memorial?s Rainbow Pool site.
Nov 16 - In a public hearing, the CFA approves several ancillary elements of the memorial: an information pavilion, a comfort station, an access road and a contemplative area.
Dec 14 - In a public hearing, the NCPC approves several ancillary elements of the memorial: an information pavilion, a comfort station, an access road and a contemplative area.
2001
Jan 23 - Construction permit issued by the National Park Service.
Mar 9 - Construction, which was to begin in March, is delayed indefinitely pending resolution of a lawsuit filed by a small opposition group in Washington, D.C., and a procedural issue involving the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC), one of the agencies required by law to approve the memorial.
May 21-22 - The House and Senate pass legislation directing that the memorial be constructed expeditiously at the dedicated Rainbow Pool site on the National Mall in a manner consistent with previous approvals and permits. President Bush signed the legislation into law (Public Law 107-11) on Memorial Day, May 28th.
Jun 7 - The General Services Administration, acting as agent for the American Battle Monuments Commission, awards a $56 million construction contract to the joint venture of Tompkins Builders and Grunley-Walsh Construction.
Jun 21 - In a public hearing, the CFA approves the granite selections for the memorial.
Jul 3 - In a public hearing, the NCPC approves the granite selections for the memorial.
Aug 27 - Tompkins/Grunley-Walsh begin site preparation work at the memorial's Rainbow Pool site on the National Mall. Construction begins one week later.
2002
Mar 21 - In a public hearing, the CFA approves designs for flagpoles and announcement piers at the ceremonial entrance, and artistic enhancements to the field of gold stars. A proposed announcement stone design was not approved.
Apr 4 - In a public hearing, the NCPC approves designs for flagpoles and announcement piers at the ceremonial entrance and an announcement stone at the east memorial plaza, and artistic enhancements to the field of gold stars.
Jul 18 - In a public hearing, the CFA approves concepts for 24 bas-relief sculpture panels, and requests that the announcement stone be designed for the ceremonial entrance of the memorial rather than the proposed location on the plaza.
Oct 17 ? In a public hearing, the CFA approves the redesigned announcement stone at the ceremonial entrance, and endorses the thematic content of proposed inscriptions but recommends minor adjustments in their presentation.
Nov 21 - In a public hearing, the CFA approves inscriptions for the memorial.
2003
Apr 22 - In a public hearing, the CFA approves inscriptions for the memorial.
2004
Apr 29 - The National World War II Memorial opens to the public.
May 29 - The National World War II Memorial is formally dedicated in a ceremony that draws 150,000 people.
Nov 1 - The memorial becomes part of the National Park System when it is transferred from the American Battle Monuments Commission to the National Park Service, which assumes responsibility for its operations and maintenance.
National World War II Memorial Inscriptions
The following inscriptions are inscribed in the National World War II Memorial on the Mall in Washington, D.C. The inscriptions are presented by location.
Announcement Stone
HERE IN THE PRESENCE OF WASHINGTON AND LINCOLN,
ONE THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY FATHER AND THE OTHER THE
NINETEENTH CENTURY PRESERVER OF OUR NATION, WE HONOR
THOSE TWENTIETH CENTURY AMERICANS WHO TOOK UP THE STRUGGLE
DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR AND MADE THE SACRIFICES TO
PERPETUATE THE GIFT OUR FOREFATHERS ENTRUSTED TO US:
A NATION CONCEIVED IN LIBERTY AND JUSTICE.
Flagpoles
AMERICANS CAME TO LIBERATE, NOT TO CONQUER,
TO RESTORE FREEDOM AND TO END TYRANNY
Eastern Corners
PEARL HARBOR
DECEMBER 7, 1941, A DATE WHICH WILL LIVE IN INFAMY?NO
MATTER HOW LONG IT MAY TAKE US TO OVERCOME THIS
PREMEDITATED INVASION, THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, IN THEIR
RIGHTEOUS MIGHT, WILL WIN THROUGH TO ABSOLUTE VICTORY.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt
THEY HAVE GIVEN THEIR SONS TO THE MILITARY SERVICES. THEY
HAVE STOKED THE FURNACES AND HURRIED THE FACTORY WHEELS.
THEY HAVE MADE THE PLANES AND WELDED THE TANKS,
RIVETED THE SHIPS AND ROLLED THE SHELLS.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt
WOMEN WHO STEPPED UP WERE MEASURED AS CITIZENS OF THE NATION,
NOT AS WOMEN?THIS WAS A PEOPLE?S WAR, AND EVERYONE WAS IN IT.
Colonel Oveta Culp Hobby
THEY FOUGHT TOGETHER AS BROTHERS-IN-ARMS.
THEY DIED TOGETHER AND NOW THEY SLEEP SIDE BY SIDE.
TO THEM WE HAVE A SOLEMN OBLIGATION.
Admiral Chester W. Nimitz
Southern Walls
BATTLE OF MIDWAY JUNE 4-7, 1942
THEY HAD NO RIGHT TO WIN. YET THEY DID, AND IN DOING SO THEY CHANGED
THE COURSE OF A WAR?EVEN AGAINST THE GREATEST OF ODDS, THERE IS
SOMETHING IN THE HUMAN SPIRIT ? A MAGIC BLEND OF SKILL, FAITH AND
VALOR ? THAT CAN LIFT MEN FROM CERTAIN DEFEAT TO INCREDIBLE VICTORY.
Walter Lord, Author
THE WAR?S END
TODAY THE GUNS ARE SILENT. A GREAT TRAGEDY HAS ENDED. A GREAT
VICTORY HAS BEEN WON. THE SKIES NO LONGER RAIN DEATH ? THE SEAS
BEAR ONLY COMMERCE ? MEN EVERYWHERE WALK UPRIGHT IN THE
SUNLIGHT. THE ENTIRE WORLD IS QUIETLY AT PEACE.
General Douglas MacArthur
Northern Walls
WE ARE DETERMINED THAT BEFORE THE SUN SETS ON THIS TERRIBLE STRUGGLE
OUR FLAG WILL BE RECOGNIZED THROUGHOUT THE WORLD AS A SYMBOL OF
FREEDOM ON THE ONE HAND AND OF OVERWHELMING FORCE ON THE OTHER.
General George C. Marshall
D-DAY JUNE 6, 1944
YOU ARE ABOUT TO EMBARK UPON THE GREAT CRUSADE TOWARD
WHICH WE HAVE STRIVEN THESE MANY MONTHS. THE EYES OF
THE WORLD ARE UPON YOU?I HAVE FULL CONFIDENCE IN YOUR
COURAGE, DEVOTION TO DUTY AND SKILL IN BATTLE.
General Dwight D. Eisenhower
Western Corners
OUR DEBT TO THE HEROIC MEN AND VALIANT WOMEN IN THE SERVICE
OF OUR COUNTRY CAN NEVER BE REPAID. THEY HAVE EARNED OUR
UNDYING GRATITUDE. AMERICA WILL NEVER FORGET THEIR SACRIFICES.
President Harry S Truman
THE HEROISM OF OUR OWN TROOPS?WAS MATCHED BY THAT
OF THE ARMED FORCES OF THE NATIONS THAT FOUGHT BY OUR
SIDE?THEY ABSORBED THE BLOWS?AND THEY SHARED TO THE
FULL IN THE ULTIMATE DESTRUCTION OF THE ENEMY.
President Harry S Truman
Southern Fountain Copings
CHINA * BURMA * INDIA SOUTHWEST PACIFIC CENTRAL PACIFIC NORTH PACIFIC
PEARL HARBOR * WAKE ISLAND * BATAAN CORREGIDOR * CORAL SEA *
MIDWAY * GUADALCANAL * NEW GUINEA * BUNA * TARAWA *
KWAJALEIN * ATTU * SAIPAN TINIAN GUAM * PHILIPPINE SEA * PELELIU *
LEYTE GULF * LUZON * MANILA * IWO JIMA * OKINAWA * JAPAN
Northern Fountain Copings
NORTH AFRICA SOUTHERN EUROPE WESTERN EUROPE CENTRAL EUROPE
BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC * MURMANSK RUN * TUNISIA *
SICILY SALERNO ANZIO ROME PO VALLEY * NORMANDY *
ST.LO * AIR WAR IN EUROPE * ALSACE * RHINELAND *
HUERTGEN FOREST * BATTLE OF THE BULGE *
REMAGEN BRIDGE * GERMANY
Southern and Northern Arches
1941 ? 1945 VICTORY ON LAND VICTORY AT SEA VICTORY IN THE AIR
Freedom Wall ? Field of Gold Stars
HERE WE MARK THE PRICE OF FREEDOM
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David
Mon July 25, 2005 12:01pm
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Audenarde American Monume
The World War I Audenarde American Monument is located in the town of Oudenaarde (Audenarde), Belgium, seventeen miles south of Gent (Gand), thirty-eight miles west of Brussels and one hundred and eighty-three miles north of Paris, France.
The monument of golden-yellow limestone, bearing the shield of the United States flanked by two stone eagles, stands at the end of a small park maintained by the Commission. It commemorates the services and sacrifices of the 40,000 American troops who, in October and November 1918, fought in the vicinity as units attached to the Group of Armies commanded by the King of Belgium. Some are buried in the Flanders Field American Cemetery at Waregem, Belgium, eight miles to the west.
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