National World War II Memorial

Covering more than seven acres, the National World War II Memorial is located on the National Mall’s Rainbow Pool site between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. The entrance walkway is a stone balustrade inset with 12 bas-relief panels based on archival photographs from the war. The bronze and granite memorial is composed of two arches located at either end of the pool that symbolize the Atlantic and Pacific theaters. More than a dozen inscriptions from contemporary figures at the time of the war are carved in granite in prominent locations throughout the memorial. Fifty-six granite pillars connected by bronze ropes represent the 50 states, seven territories and the District of Columbia and celebrate the nation’s unity during WWII. Four-thousand sculpted gold stars on the Freedom Wall commemorate more than 400,000 Americans who gave their lives.

In the span of eight years it took to complete the memorial, LEO A DALY met the challenge of coordinating multiple consultants while answering to various stakeholders and responding to numerous review boards.