Workers scramble to open World War II Memorial

DEDICATION ON NATIONAL MALL PLANNED MAY 29

By Jennifer C. Kerr

WASHINGTON - Construction crews are working day and night to put the finishing touches on the World War II Memorial so the site can soon be opened to the public -- especially the veterans of that era, who are dying by the hundreds each day.

The memorial won't be dedicated until May 29, but project organizers decided it should unofficially open as soon as possible. The fence surrounding the site is expected to come down the last week in April.

"We just think it's important that we let the World War II veterans, especially, see it because a lot of them won't be able to make the dedication ceremony," project executive Barry Owenby said yesterday.

The Veterans Affairs Department estimates World War II vets are dying at a rate of 1,056 a day -- more than 385,000 a year. Fewer than 4 million will be alive at the time of dedication.

The memorial sits on a 7.4-acre site on the National Mall between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial.

Two and a half years after construction began, all of the memorial's more than 17 million pounds of granite and most of the bronze is in place. Crews are now busy working on the landscape around the memorial.

The length of a football field, the memorial has two hulking 43-foot arches at each end. One is marked Atlantic, the other Pacific -- symbolizing the two theaters of the war. Fifty-six smaller granite pillars adorned with two bronze wreaths form the oval shape of the memorial and encircle a sunken plaza and pool. The pillars represent each state and territory from that period, and the District of Columbia.

"This is not a healing memorial, but a memorial that recalls, perhaps, the nation's finest hour," said design architect Friedrich St. Florian.

From:http://www.kentucky.com/mld/heraldleader/news/nation/8391409.htm