I had no idea what the memorial even looked like. This is the first picture I've seen of it. I guess I'm more out of touch than I thought I was. Great perspective on this shot, Stacy. Thanks for bringing it to us.

i have been wondering what it looked like too! very reminiscent of the vietnam wall- only different. question is- will the whole thing sink? (or am i slow and they changed the spot?)

Seeing this, I can't help but wonder what types of memorials could come out of the Iraq situation.

If you see the whole thing, it's very unlike the Vietnam memorial. This wall with the stars was interesting, but overall, the memorial is far too large and park-like, imo. I'm not an architecture critic, but I felt it lacked the focus of the Vietnam and Korean memorials. Walking around the space you have little sense of what you are paying tribute to, other than a celebration of our 50 states and territories.

The WW2 memorial was very big and very concrete. I liked the wall of stars the best because it did have some more meaning and focus to it. The rest felt a little overdone.

and the sinking? you haven't addressed the sinking!

I don't know anything about the sinking. Did they build it on soft ground or something?

The comment about what each star represents is incorrect. There are 4,000 stars, each star represents one hundred American servicemen killed.(400,000) I was there in the day and at night. It is especially beautiful at night.

Don is right. I read that as well. I watched part of the dedication service on TV this weekend. I realized that the sense of space and all that garbage is insignificant compared to what this memorial represents for the people and families involved with WW2. They were genuinely moved by the grand scale.