Korean War Memorial - Washington DC

The Korean War lasted from 1950 - 1953 after the North Korean government attacked South Korea. The United Nations agreed to defend the South Korea democracy and sent troops including a million and a half Americans. Since it had been only five years since the end of World War II, it was a lot to ask of our military and the war was extremely unpopular.

The Korean War Veterans Memorial is a National Momument located on The Mall, Washington, D.C.

The memorial is in the form of a triangle intersecting a circle. In the circle is the "Pool of Remembrance", a granite pool 30 feet in diameter. The pool is surrounded by bushes, trees and benches. The statues are larger than life and represent a squad on patrol in Korea.

An artist named Frank Gaylord of Barre, Vermont sculpted 19 statues. Mr. Gaylord was a World War II veteran. The wall of etched faces was created by Louis Nelson. The ground breaking began in November of 1993.

"They are approximately 7'3" tall, heroic scale and consist of 14 Army, 3 Marines, 1 Navy, 1 Air Force. They represent an ethnic cross section of America with 12 Caucasian, 3 African American, 2 Hispanic, 1 Oriental, 1 Indian (Native American)." as noted by the The Army Corps of Engineers website which intricately maps the details of the memorial with a legend showing which statues represent which soldiers.

This most impressive memorial was dedicated on July 27, 1995, the 42nd anniversary of the armistice.

More than 25 million people visit the National Mall in Washington DC each year. It's a beautiful place filled with art and history. The Mall is six miles long.

For more information about visiting Washington DC and all it has to offer, visit the Official Tourism Site of Washington DC.

You will be amazed.