Ww2 Memorial History

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Did you know that over 4 million people visit the WWII Memorial each year? The Memorial is a tribute to the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice fighting for our freedom in WWII. World War 2 started for America on December 7th, 1941. WWII ended on September 2nd, 1945 when Japan surrendered. The Memorial honors the sixteen million who served in the United States armed forces during World War II, the more than 400,000 who died, and the millions who supported the war effort at home. The Memorial stands as a symbol of American National unity. The Memorial was built by Tomkins Builders/ Grunley, Walsh Construction. The WWII Memorial sits on a 7.4 acre lot. Two thirds of the 7.4 lot is landscaping and water features. It is between the Abraham …show more content…
The WWII Memorial was authorized by President Clinton in 1993. It allowed the American Battle Monuments Commission to build the memorial. Building started in September 2001 and was projected to end in April 2004. It is the first National Memorial dedicated to all who served in WWII and the commitment of the nation through that time. The Memorial was built by the joint venture of Tomkins Builders/ Grunley- Walsh Construction. Fundraising was started for the Memorial. It was mostly funded by private contributors. Former Senator Bob Dole and CEO Fredrick W. Smith led the fundraising campaign. The WWII Memorial opened in the spring of 2004. There was a ceremony when the memorial opened and thousands of veterans attended. The Architect for the WWII Memorial, Friedrich St. Florian was chosen to be the main architect for the construction. He wanted the memorial to have a relationship between homefront and battlefront. He wanted this because it took a lot of dedication back in the United States during World War 2. James van. Sweden was the landscape architect for the landscape of the WWII memorial. Ray Kaskey was the head sculptor for the clay …show more content…
There is a wall of stars at the World War II memorial. There are 4048 gold stars. Each star represents 100 Americans who died during World War 2. There is a quote in front of it “Here is the price of freedom”. That quote was inscribed in granite. Each star is made of bronze. After the star was molded in bronze, it was then coated in a gold plating so it has a good shine and lasts longer. Ray Kaskey (sculptor) was the head sculptor for the WWII memorial. He oversaw the largest bronze project in modern history. Bronze was used to make many of the significant parts of the memorial. Bronze was used on the columns, eagles, laurel wreaths, and ropes. There were eight 20,000 pound pure bronze eagles. They had to be carefully shipped and had to be lifted by two heavy duty cranes. The Eagles cleared the pavilion structure with only three inches to spare! The tension was extraordinarily high during this process. The Eagles are two sets of four twelve foot high eagles. Then the 5,000 pound laurel wreath was placed on the beaks of the Eagles. An x-ray machine was used to make sure all of the welds on the eagles and wreath were properly