World War II Memorial
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 of our forefathers entrusted to us: A nation conceived in liberty and justice.
(Quotations on the Southeast Entrance):
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 absolute victory.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt
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
(Quotations on Northeast Entrance):
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
(Quotations on the Inside):
D-Day June 6, 1944
You are about the 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
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
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
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 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. This entire world is quietly at peace.
General Douglas MacArthur
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 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
(Dedication Inscription):World War II Memorial
George W. Bush
President of the United States
Friedrich St. Florian
Design Architect
American Battle
Monuments Commission
2004
Marker is on 17th Street SW, on the right when traveling south.
Courtesy hmdb.org
