Must-Visit Memorials For Your Next Trip To Washington DC
By RICHARD CHACHOWSKI
The Lincoln Memorial
Housed in a massive neoclassical temple is the 19-foot marble statue of Abraham Lincoln, with his Gettysburg Address on the left wall and his second inaugural address on the right.
The Washington Monument
The iconic Washington Monument is a 555-foot towering obelisk on a hill overlooking most of Washington, D.C., and it has an elevator for those wanting a panoramic view.
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial
A sculpture of Martin Luther King, Jr. emerging from granite is at the center of his memorial, surrounded by an Inscription Wall with some of his most moving quotes.
The carving references King's words, "Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope," from his "I Have a Dream" speech, delivered on the steps of the nearby Lincoln Memorial.
The Korean War Veterans Memorial
The Korean War Veterans Memorial is a harrowing place with several components to commemorate those who fought from 1950 to 1953.
Nineteen statues, each over seven feet tall and a branch of the U.S. military, are collectively known as "The Column" and represent an American platoon on patrol.
Behind "The Column" is the Mural Wall, a 164-foot-long wall complete with images of Korean War veterans taken from archival photographs of actual soldiers in the war.
The Pool of Remembrance is a shallow fountain 30 feet in diameter that lists the number of soldiers missing in action, killed in combat, or held as prisoners of war.
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial
The adjacent Vietnam Veterans Memorial honors the soldiers who fell in combat from 1954 to 1975 and explains the political controversies surrounding the decade-spanning war.
Spread over two acres of land; its main component is a 246-foot-long granite wall designed as pages of an open book with names of the missing and deceased etched into its surface.
