National Mall PHoto Essay-War Monuments
I chose the Vietnam War, Korean War, and World War II memorial because of their similarities and differences between each monument. The Vietnam War memorial consists of two triangular black long walls that sink into the ground. One edge is pointing at the Lincoln memorial while the other end is pointing at the Washington memorial. The Korean War memorial has a long granite wall which has names of soldiers and sketches of soldiers. Near the wall, there are nineteen stainless steel statues that depict moving across the battlefield. The World War II memorial consists of pillars with the name of each state on it surrounding a water fountain. For every 13 pillars, there is a much bigger pavilion which has a wreath on it. The Vietnam War, Korean War, and World War II memorial all have some type of similarities but it is the differences that make them unique as a whole.
The Vietnam War memorial overall view looks like a long black wall that stretches quite a long way. Near the black wall, there are three life size steel soldiers. When the tourists comes and see this monument, they think about all the lives that was lost whose names is written on the black wall. The tourist itself had no interaction with the other tourists and with the memorial, the tourists looked at the names and as they look at the names they can see their reflection from the black wall. The Vietnam memorial symbolizes a piece of history that no one will ever forget.
The Korean war memorial overall view consist of nineteen life size steel soldiers as if they were on the battlefield, a water fountain, and a long black wall that has sketches of soldiers and the names of lives who were lost during the battle. The tourist’s interaction near the life sized soldiers was quite minimal. Every once in awhile, there will be short sentences coming from here or there. I notice that when the tourists were looking at the wall, there was absolutely no sounds coming from anywhere but then again, they were paying close attention to the names and the sketches that was all over the wall. The Korean War memorial will teach future generations and will mean a lot to the people that actually fought in it.
The World War II memorial was the largest memorial out of the Korean War and Vietnam War memorial. The memorial consists of columns that surrounded a water fountain. Each column represents a state which is written on the pillar. Also on the pillar, there is a green wreath placed in front of the pillar towards the inside. The name of each state is placed on the outside part of the pillar. I notice that the interaction between the tourists itself was very deep and thoughtful. The tourist’s interaction with the monument was very open and surprised. I think it’s because of the height of the columns that made the tourists surprised and the fact that the memorial was very spacious. The World War II memorial is a great way to remember all the lives that were lost during an important time in U.S history.
The Vietnam War, Korean War, and World War II memorial all have similarities and differences from one another. In fact, the Vietnam War, Korean War, and World War II memorial all have a water fountain by its side. While the Vietnam War and Korean War memorial both have a long black wall and life size soldiers nearby. The World War II memorial is the only memorial out of the Vietnam War and Korean War memorial that has pillars with each state written on it. I chose these three specific monuments because of their differences and similarities that define each time period with their unique design. The Vietnam War, Korean War, and World War II memorial will forever be in our mind and represent the lives that were lost. Pics