Isn't it sad that it 60 years for US to get a national WWII monument?

[Tom_Foolery]

These brave people are dying at the rate of 1,000 a day. What took so long to build it?

[JohnnyFianna1]

1. yup, truly the greatest generation.

[Catholic Sensation]

2. kleeb and beth and i were talking about this earlier

and the monument to the soldiers is such an insult

edit: clarity :eyes:

[Dookus]

5. Huh?

Kleeb and beth are insulted by the memorial? Why?

[Catholic Sensation]

7. while kleeb and beth are both deserving of their own monuments in dc

i was referring to the people the wwii memorial is supposed to commemorate. Particularly the "freedom wall." I'm sorry, this looks like a really half assed attempt to recreate the Vietnam Memorial. A real memorial would have their names and ranks listed, not some stupid stars. The term freedom wall also reeks of something Bush would say.

in fact, I'm going to elaborate further why the "Freedom Wall" is a joke. They have four thousand stars representing the four hundred thousand lives lost during the war. Simple math says that's one star for every 100 brave soldiers, medics, etc. who lost their trying to free Europe from the tyranny of Naziism. We, rightly, honor those who died in Vietnam by listing their names, why couldn't the same be done for those who died trying to destroy one of the greatest evils in modern history?

[Dookus]

8. because

I think it's silly to compare one memorial to another. There's no reason why every dead soldier needs to be individually commemmorated on the Mall.

I really doubt WWII vets feel slighted. There's no one rule for what constitutes a memorial - this looks like a nice one. The vietnam war one is nice, too. Variety is good.

[Dookus]

3. I think nobody really

thought much about it until after the Vietnam War memorial was built.

It wasn't customary to put war memorials on the Mall. Of course, now we have a problem - every future war will be "gauged" as whether or not it's worthy of a memorial on the mall.

that being said, I'm glad the WWII memorial was built. It looks beautiful, and I look forward to seeing it.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

4. Sadder still that it is where it is.

I wonder if history will judge WWII to be as important as we think it is.

I am of the opinion that it destroys the intent of the mall. I know that is not a popular opinion, but there it is nonetheless.

[Waverley_Hills_Hiker]

6. i dont know,, but I like the design.

The Vietnam Memorial was this modernist thingy, sort of off to one side,....i guess appropriate to that war. ..its a great work...the way it operates in terms of the names of the dead, the dropping then rising, the angles directed at key monuments.

But thats that war.....

The WWII memorial, however is more public, more central and more classical and formal. I really like the way it respects the axis of the mall. And, the key thing, is that is as central as it its in the scheme of Washington monuments as WWII was such a key event in US history.

I dont have a problem with the classicizing esthetic operating in this memorial. Classicism has been enduring theme in US public architecture, as befits our historical role as the first modern republic.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

9. Oh, yeah I would like to point out that I like the design. I am

just appaled at the impact it has on the mall. I think it is a fine memorial, and I think it is better for the time passing. Maybe we needed a little perspective on the war to make this.