Korean War Memorial
Built in honor of the men and women of the Armed Forces who valiantly fought in the Korean War in the 1950s, it is a testament that ‘Freedom is not free.’
The Korean War Memorial
The Korean War Memorial, dedicated on July 27, 1995, was constructed in honor of the 5.8 million American armed service members who served the U.S. in the conflict with North Korea. The memorial is shaped like a large triangle, intersecting a small circle. Nineteen larger-than-life, poncho-clad stainless steel statues have been erected inside the triangle These memorialize the 36, 574 Americans who gave their lives in the war on the Korean Peninsula.
Mural Wall within the memorial is a symbolic addition. It has images sandblasted into the wall’s highly polished granite. These images are from more than 2,000 photos of various personnel involved in the war, including the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard. The Pool of Remembrance is also intended to help visitors honor and reflect on the many service members who sacrificed in the War. 22 members of the United Nations who contributed to the Korean War efforts are also memorialized by the construction of the United Nations Wall.
Request a Customized Tour to Washington DC for your Group
Useful Memorial Links:
Interesting Facts on the Korean War Memorial
- South Korea’s national flower is the Rose of Sharon. Three bushes of this flower are planted on the south side of the Korean War Memorial.
- The Korean War is also known as “The Forgotten War” because the half a million American soldiers who returned home after the war returned to an America obsessed with peace and unconcerned with memorializing a war that happened an ocean away.
- In fact, the idea of a Korean War Veterans Memorial was not entertained until after the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was completed.
- The Korean Armistice Agreement was actually not a peace treaty, but rather a ceasefire intended to end violence between North Korea and the U.S. until a peace treaty could be agreed upon. To this day, a peace treaty has not been signed.