The Korean War Memorial was initiated by the Korean War Veterans Advisory Board in 1986 after Congress passed a law calling for a memorial. Pres. Reagan appointed veterans to the board. It was constructed with private contributions. Pres. George H.W. Bush broke ground in 1992. It was dedicated on July 27, 1995 (thirteen years after the Vietnam Memorial), the 42nd anniversary of the armistice. It honors the 5.8 million servicemen and women who served. 36,574 were killed. The competition to design it was won by a team of four architects from Penn State, but they backed out when design changes were ordered. An architectural firm took over. The main part of the memorial is a platoon on patrol consisting of 19 soldiers. The 7 foot-tall stainless steel statues were sculpted by Frank Gaylord. They represent 14 Army, 3 Marines, 1 Navy, and 1 Air Force personnel. They are advancing through a rice paddy represented by juniper bushes and separated by polished granite. They all wear ponchos. Most are armed with M-1s, but there is a BAR team and a machine gun team. One is a forward artillery controller and one is an air-ground controller. There is a medic and a corpsman. There is also a Mural Wall with 2,400 photos etched on it.
https://www.koreanwarvetsmemorial.org/the-memorial/
Korean War Memorial – NY Public Library
0 Comments