Korean War Veterans' Monument
About the Memorial
American servicemen and women braved violent combat in Korea. The Nation suffered great losses in the War and spiritual anguish in its aftermath. Friends parted, lives were uprooted, futures were transformed; many died or were injured. We now join together to understand, to honor, to heal and to look ahead.
In Korea, each serving brought their own experience; their uniqueness, their dreams into peril. Families confronted the loss of loved ones and of future. With each soldier the nation risked a part of itself. Many thousands, each with their own signature on life, united for freedom.
This Memorial intends to symbolize and express the life spirit of those who served, directly and indirectly, in the Korean War. It is a reflection, in part, of just one who served. It is meant to signal remembrance of the breadth and pulse of their identity. And, it is a marker for the array of human qualities nurtured by the freedom we protect.
This Memorial is positioned and shaped to capture sunlight. As the sun travels the horizon, columns of light articulate, sequentially, aspects of human spirit, experience and feeling. Through solid and void, light and shadow, the sun traces a spectrum of individual and shared experience.
It is hoped this Memorial will become a welcome place; that it can evoke memory, emotion and vision through the eyes of each visitor. It is meant to be very personal.
R. Allen Christianson
Memorial Architect
Courtesy hmdb.org
