United States Air Force Memorial

This article possibly contains original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed. (July 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Memorial in Arlington, Virginia

U.S. Air Force Memorial
United States Air Force
The Air Force Memorial viewed facing The Pentagon
For the service and sacrifices of the men and women of the United States Air Force and its predecessor organizations, including the Aeronautical Division, U.S. Signal Corps; the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps; the Division of Military Aeronautics, Secretary of War; the Army Air Service; the U.S. Army Air Corps; and the U.S. Army Air Forces
Established	1992
Unveiled	14 October 2006; 18 years ago (2006-10-14)
Location	38°52′07″N 77°03′59″W / 38.868649°N 77.066259°W / 38.868649; -77.066259 Arlington County, Virginia, U.S.
Designed by	James Ingo Freed (Pei Cobb Freed & Partners)
Integrity; Service; Excellence; Valor; Courage; Sacrifice
Statistics source: Air Force Association Air Force Memorial Foundation

The United States Air Force Memorial honors the service of the personnel of the United States Air Force and its heritage organizations. The Memorial is located in Arlington County, Virginia, on the former grounds of the Navy Annex near The Pentagon and Arlington National Cemetery. The Memorial is southwest of the intersection of Columbia Pike and South Joyce Street and is accessible from the north side of Columbia Pike. It was the last project of American architect James Ingo Freed (known for the design of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum) with the firm Pei Cobb Freed & Partners.

History

In January 1992, the Air Force Memorial Foundation was incorporated to pursue the development of a memorial that would honor the people in the United States Air Force. In December 1993, President Clinton signed Pub. L. 103–163 authorizing the Air Force Memorial. In 1994, the National Capital Memorial Advisory Commission approved a site next to Marshall Drive and State Route 110, down the hill from the Netherlands Carillon, known as Arlington Ridge. Fundraising and detailed designs began.

Because the site was near the Marine Corps War Memorial, which is just north of the Carillon, various Marine groups were briefed on the plans; they voiced no objections. However, on 30 July 1997, Congressman Gerald B.H. Solomon (R-NY), a Marine veteran, introduced a bill to prohibit the construction of any monument, memorial, or other structure "within view" of the Marine Corps War Memorial. The Air Force Association organized support for the memorial on behalf of its membership and Air Force veterans, and the issue became a polarizing one between the services.

On 16 September 1997, the Friends of Iwo Jima and Solomon filed for a injunction against the construction of the Air Force Memorial. The request was denied on 15 June 1998, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit then dismissed the appeal of that decision on 7 May 1999. But the cost of litigation and the opposition of prominent Marine veterans in Congress convinced the Foundation to move the Memorial to its present site, at the east end of Columbia Pike, on the grounds of Fort Myer just south of Arlington National Cemetery.

On 28 December 2001, President George W. Bush signed the Defense Authorization Bill, which included a rider directing the Department of Defense to make available to the Air Force Memorial Foundation up to 3 acres (12,000 m) of the Naval Annex property for the memorial. Ground was formally broken in September 2004. Construction of the spires began in February 2006 and was completed in seven months.

The memorial was dedicated on 14 October 2006, with about 30,000 people attending. The keynote address was delivered by President Bush, a former F-102 Delta Dagger pilot with the Texas Air National Guard. The first official ceremony at the memorial was held the next day: Secretary of the Air Force Michael Wynne laid a memorial wreath beneath the spires for fallen airmen.

To all who have climbed sunward and chased the shouting wind, America stops to say: your service and your sacrifice will be remembered forever, and honored in this place by the citizens of a free and grateful nation.
— President George W. Bush at acceptance ceremony.

In April 2017, the day-to-day operations of the Air Force Memorial were transferred to the Air Force District of Washington. The Air Force Memorial Foundation, the organization created to plan for and build the Memorial, continued until 2020 as an affiliate of the Air Force Association. Before its dissolution, there were three individuals who served as their Managing Director — Col Pete Lindquest, USAF (Ret.), CMSgt Barbara Taylor, USAF (Ret.), and SSgt Zachary Steele, USAFR.

Design

The three memorial spires range from 201 feet (61 m) to 270 feet (82 m) high and appear to be soaring; its array of stainless steel arcs against the sky evokes the image of "contrails of the Air Force Thunderbirds as they peel back in a precision 'bomb burst' maneuver." Only three of the four contrails are depicted, at 120 degrees from each other, as the absent fourth suggests the missing man formation traditionally used at Air Force funeral flyovers.

The spire structure consists of stainless steel plates with high-strength concrete filling the lower 2/3 of each spire. The upper third is hollow stainless steel. At the transition between concrete and hollow steel portions, dampers provide aerodynamic stability and dissipate wind sway energy. Each damper consists of a lead ball weighing about a ton that is allowed to roll inside a steel box. The structural design of the spires was completed by the Arup engineering consultancy.

Pedestrians approach to the spires from the west. South of the approach, before the inscription wall, stand four 8-foot-tall (2.4 m) bronze statues representing the United States Air Force Honor Guard, sculpted by Zenos Frudakis. To the north, a stone plaza leads you to the glass contemplation wall, a free-standing glass panel with the images of four F-16s flying in a Missing man formation engraved on both sides of the 5-ply panel. Except for the information kiosks outside the administration building, it is the only part of the memorial that depicts aircraft. The north inscription wall is visible through it.

The two inscription walls are located at each end of the central lawn. The walls are 56 feet (17 m) in length, 10 feet (3.0 m) in height and one foot thick. Both walls are made of polished, highly-reflective monolithic Jet Mist granite and both include a two and a half-inch outer inscription panel made from Absolute Black granite. The north wall bears the names of Air Force recipients of the Medal of Honor, and the south wall bears inspirational quotations regarding core values, particularly the Air Force's three core values: "integrity first, service before self, and excellence in all we do".

One name has been removed from the Medal of Honor Recipients, under the header of "Peacetime". This name listed was that of Colonel William "Billy" Mitchell, and it was removed due to a clerical error in actual Medal of Honor recipients in a Congressional Report published in 1979. His name was included on the wall at the memorial in error and has since been removed. The removal is quite visible, with the name being cut out of the stone, and a new stone filler in its place above the name of Charles Lindbergh. ″There is some debate as to whether Mitchell was in fact awarded the Medal of Honor or the Congressional Gold Medal. The act cited directs that "a gold medal" be struck and presented in recognition of Mitchell's pioneer service and foresight. It does not, however, specify which medal was to be awarded. In July 1945 the War Department had recommended to Congress that special gold medals be voted by Congress in cases of outstanding leadership and that the Medal of Honor be reserved for awarding only gallantry in action. Major General William "Billy" Mitchell was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, which was announced using the identical citation and approved date as listed for the award above. It seems apparent that the intention was to award the Gold Medal rather than the Medal of Honor. However, for some unknown reason, when the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs published its report, Medal of Honor Recipients: 1863-1978 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1979) compiling all Medal of Honor Recipient citations, William Mitchell and his citation were included. This website takes its Medal of Honor citations from that report, and that is why Mitchell's citation is included here - although the "gold medal" authorized above is most likely the Congressional Gold Medal, rather than the Medal of Honor."

United States Air Force Memorial, Looking NE

Events

In addition to receiving over 350,000 visitors throughout the year, the Air Force Memorial is host to more than 300 military ceremonies, weddings, funerals, and other special events. During the summer, the United States Air Force Band holds concerts there every Friday night.

References

"About the Memorial". Air Force Memorial Foundation. Archived from the original on 2 November 2008. Retrieved 17 September 2008.
"Air Force Memorial Foundation". Airforcememorial.org. Archived from the original on 20 February 2012. Retrieved 15 February 2012.
Dudney, Robert (November 2006). "The Magnificent Memorial". Air Force Magazine, Journal of the Air Force Association.
Air Force Magazine
United States Air Force Memorial description by the architectural firm that designed it, Pei Cobb Freed & Partners
Fisher, Christina. "The Air Force Memorial". Reed Business Information. Archived from the original on 15 March 2007. Retrieved 15 October 2006.
"Air Force Memorial Foundation". Airforcememorial.org. Archived from the original on 20 February 2012. Retrieved 15 February 2012.
"Air Force Memorial Foundation". Airforcememorial.org. Archived from the original on 20 February 2012. Retrieved 15 February 2012.
History, U.S. Army Center of Military. "Medal of Honor Recipients - Authorized by Special Acts of Congress". history.army.mil. Archived from the original on 19 February 2014. Retrieved 14 November 2016.

External links

Air Force Memorial Foundation
United States Air Force Memorial at Pei Cobb Freed & Partners Architects LLP
National Air Force Memorial Honor Guard sculpture information from sculptor Zenos Frudakis' website
President Bush dedicates Air Force Memorial Saturday, 14 October 2006, quoting John Gillespie Magee, Jr.'s poem "High Flight".
Photos:
- Photo Album of Zenos Frudakis on Flickr Photo Service – "National Air Force Memorial Honor Guard sculpture, Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C. by Zenos Frudakis"
- Air Force Memorial photos by Amaury Laporte, free to use for non commercial purposes

United States Air Force

Leadership

Structure

Commands	Reserve Air National Guard Field Operating Agencies Installations
Direct Reporting Units	District of Washington Operational Test and Evaluation Center USAF Academy
Major commands	ACC AETC AFGSC AFMC AFRC AFSOC AMC PACAF USAFE–AFAFRICA
Numbered Air Forces	First Second Third Fourth Fifth Seventh Eighth Ninth Tenth Eleventh Twelfth Thirteenth Expeditionary Fifteenth Sixteenth Eighteenth Nineteenth Twentieth Twenty-Second
Wings ANG Groups ANG Squadrons ANG Security Forces Civilian auxiliary: Civil Air Patrol

Personnel and
training

Uniforms and
equipment

History and
traditions

Category

v t e Landmarks of Washington, D.C.
Memorials	Adams African American Civil War American Veterans Disabled for Life John Barry Belmont–Paul Women's Equality National Monument Mary McLeod Bethune Boy Scout James Buchanan John Carroll D.C. War Albert Einstein Emancipation Dwight D. Eisenhower John Ericsson David Farragut First Division Thomas Gallaudet James A. Garfield Kahlil Gibran Samuel Gompers Ulysses S. Grant Holocaust Museum Holodomor Genocide Andrew Jackson Japanese American Patriotism During World War II Jefferson Memorial Lyndon Baines Johnson Grove John Paul Jones Marquis de Lafayette Law Enforcement Officers Lincoln Memorial statue Martin Luther King, Jr. Korean War Veterans George Mason George B. McClellan George Meade Peter Muhlenberg National Statuary Hall Collection Navy – Merchant Marine Nuns of the Battlefield Peace Monument John J. Pershing Second Division Signers of the Declaration of Independence The Extra Mile Three Soldiers Jean de Rochambeau Franklin Delano Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Island Taras Shevchenko Statues of the Liberators Oscar Straus Robert A. Taft Titanic United States Navy Victims of Communism Vietnam Veterans Vietnam Women's Washington Monument Daniel Webster World War I World War II Rainbow Pool
Other	Basilica of the Immaculate Conception Blair House Capitol Reflecting Pool Congressional Cemetery DAR Constitution Hall Exorcist steps First Air Mail Marker Ford's Theatre Petersen House Frederick Douglass National Historic Site Healy Hall Hillwood Estate and Museum Islamic Center Jefferson Pier John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Library of Congress Jefferson Adams Madison National Arboretum National Capitol Columns National Building Museum National Gallery of Art Lincoln's Cottage at Soldiers' Home Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool National Archives National Cathedral National Mall Octagon House Old Post Office Old Stone House Smithsonian Institution St. John's Episcopal Church The Arts of War and The Arts of Peace Tidal Basin Treasury Building Freedman's Bank Building Tudor Place Union Station United States Capitol Capitol Hill Dome Rotunda United States Supreme Court Building Watergate complex White House Willard Hotel
Parks and plazas	Constitution Gardens Dupont Circle East Potomac Park Farragut Square Freedom Plaza Lafayette Square L'Enfant Plaza Meridian Hill Park National Arboretum Pershing Park President's Park Rock Creek Park The Ellipse Union Square United States Botanic Garden West Potomac Park
Boundaries	Anacostia River Arlington Memorial Bridge Boundary markers of the original District of Columbia Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Constitution Avenue Francis Scott Key Bridge Pennsylvania Avenue Potomac River Zero Milestone
Nearby landmarks	Arlington National Cemetery Tomb of the Unknown Soldier John F. Kennedy gravesite Arlington House Marine Corps War Memorial Mount Vernon Netherlands Carillon Pentagon Pentagon Memorial United States Air Force Memorial Women in Military Service for America Memorial
Planned	Adams Memorial National Desert Storm and Desert Shield Memorial National Liberty Memorial Peace Corps Commemorative
Canceled	George Washington Memorial Building Gold Star Mothers National Monument Mammy memorial National Slave Memorial
Related	National Capital Memorial Advisory Commission National Mall and Memorial Parks List of National Historic Landmarks in Washington, D.C. National Register of Historic Places in Washington, D.C.
Public art in Washington, D.C. (American Revolution Statuary, Civil War Monuments, Commemorating African-Americans, Outdoor sculpture)

Categories:

Misplaced Pages