Posted on 05/28/2004 5:07:42 AM PDT by BigWaveBetty
The memorial honors the 16 million who served in the armed forces of the U.S. during World War II, the more than 400,000 who died, and the millions who supported the war effort from home. Symbolic of the defining event of the 20th Century, the memorial is a monument to the spirit, sacrifice, and commitment of the American people to the common defense of the nation and to the broader causes of peace and freedom from tyranny throughout the world. It will inspire future generations of Americans, deepening their appreciation of what the World War II generation accomplished in securing freedom and democracy. Above all, the memorial stands as an important symbol of American national unity, a timeless reminder of the moral strength and awesome power that can flow when a free people are at once united and bonded together in a common and just cause.
Site
The first step in establishing the memorial was the selection of an appropriate site. Congress provided legislative authority for siting the memorial in the prime area of the national capital, known as Area I, which includes the National Mall. The National Park Service, the Commission of Fine Arts, and the National Capital Planning Commission approved selection of the Rainbow Pool site at the east end of the Reflecting Pool between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument. President Clinton dedicated the memorial site during a formal ceremony on Veterans Day 1995.
Design
ABMC engaged the General Services Administration’s (GSA) Public Buildings Service to act as its agent to manage the memorial project. The design submitted by Friedrich St.Florian, an architect based in Providence, R.I., was selected as one of six semi-finalists in an open, national competition. Leo A Daly, an international architecture firm, assembled the winning team with St.Florian as the design architect. The team also includes George E. Hartman of Hartman-Cox Architects, Oehme van Sweden & Associates, and sculptor Ray Kaskey. St.Florian’s memorial design concept was approved by the Commission of Fine Arts and the National Capital Planning Commission in the summer of 1998. The commissions approved the preliminary design in 1999, the final architectural design and several ancillary elements in 2000, granite selections in 2001, and sculpture and inscriptions in 2002 and 2003.
Fund-raising Campaign
The memorial is funded primarily by private contributions. The fund-raising campaign was led by National Chairman Senator Bob Dole and National Co-Chairman Frederick W. Smith.
Senator Dole, a World War II veteran seriously wounded on the battlefield and twice decorated with the Bronze Star and Purple Heart, was the Republican nominee for president in 1996 and the longest-serving Republican Leader in the U.S. Senate.
Frederick W. Smith is chairman, president and chief executive officer of FedEx Corporation, a $17 billion global transportation and logistics holding company. He is a graduate of Yale and a former U.S. Marine Corps officer, and serves on the boards of various transport, industry and civic organizations.
The memorial received more than $195 million in cash and pledges. This total includes $16 million provided by the federal government.
Timeline
Construction began in September 2001. The memorial opened to the public on April 29, 2004. The memorial will be dedicated on Saturday, May 29, 2004 -- Memorial Day Weekend.
ABMC
The American Battle Monuments Commission is an independent, executive branch agency with 11 commissioners and a secretary appointed by the president. The ABMC administers, operates and maintains 24 permanent U.S. military cemeteries and 25 memorial structures in 15 countries around the world. The commission is also responsible for the establishment of other memorials in the U.S. as directed by Congress.
Pulitzer Prize winning photojournalist Max Desfor poses with his September 2, 1945 photograph (R) of Japan's formal surrender on the deck of the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, at the Memories of World War II photography exhibition in Washington, May 24, 2004. The newly published documentary photography book 'Memories of World War II' is being released to coincide with the dedication of the National WWII Memorial in Washington on May 29. REUTERS/Hyungwon Kang
These photographs will be among of the images presented in AP's exhibit 'Memories of World War II''
American soldiers, riding camels while off duty, wave to a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress in this March 1943 file photo, in Tunisia.
U.S. reinforcements wade through the surf as they land at Normandy in the days following the Allies' June 6,1944, D-Day invasion of occupied France.
U.S. troops in the Pacific islands continued to find enemy holdouts in this March 10, 1945 file photo long after the main Japanese forces had either surrendered or disappeared.
Looking north from 44th Street, New York's Times Square is packed Monday, May 7, 1945, with crowds celebrating the news of Germany's unconditional surrender in World War II.
U.S. Marines of the 28th Regiment of the Fifth Division raise the American flag atop Mt. Suribachi, Iwo Jima, on Feb. 23, 1945.
U.S. soldiers of Pennsylvania's 28th Infantry Division march along the Champs Elysees, the Arc de Triomphe in the background, on Aug. 29, 1944, four days after the liberation of Paris, France.
Also on exhibit Norman Rockwell's paintings 'Four Freedoms.'
Freedom of Speech
Freedom to Worship
More photos at wwiimemorial.com
World War II Memorial Rose
More 'effen going on:
Kerry 'Flips Off'
Vietnam Vet At Memorial
newsmax.com
6-1-4
Democratic senator - and certain presidential nominee - John F. Kerry gave the middle finger to a Vietnam veteran at the Vietnam Memorial Wall on Memorial Day morning, NewsMax.com has learned.
Ted Sampley, a former Green Beret who served two full tours in Vietnam, spotted Kerry and his Secret Service detail at about 9:00 a.m. Monday morning at the Wall. Sampley walked up to Kerry, extended his hand and said, "Senator, I am Ted Sampley, the head of Vietnam Veterans Against John Kerry, and I am here to escort you away from the Wall because you do not belong here."
At that point a Secret Service officer told Sampley to back away from Kerry. Sampley moved about 6 feet away and opened his jacket to reveal a HANOI JOHN T-shirt.
Kerry then began talking to a group of schoolchildren. Sampley then showed the T-shirt to the children and said, "Kerry does not belong at the Wall because he betrayed the brave soldiers who fought in Vietnam."
Just then Kerry - in front of the school children, other visitors and Secret Service agents - brazenly 'flashed the bird' at Sampley and then yelled out to everyone, "Sampley is a felon!"
Kerry was referring to an incident 12 years ago when Sampley confronted Sen. John McCain's chief aide, Mark Salter, in a Senate stairwell after McCain repeatedly offended POW families at a Senate POW hearing. Sampley, whose father-in-law at that time was MIA in Laos, followed Salter into the stairwell and, when they emerged, Salter had a bloody lip and a broken nose.
Sampley's group, Vietnam Veterans Against John Kerry, has garnered huge national attention and has been featured in the New York Times, the Washington Post and on MSNBC's "Scarborough Country." Tens of thousands of Vietnam vets have registered their opposition to Kerry through Sampley's group.
Clearly Sampley has gotten under Kerry's skin once again.
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2004/5/31/225546.shtml
There's no doubt about where he is now, our loss is Heaven's gain.
Great news - thank you.
Cheers, everyone.
I'll bet this is just one of many stories in the big city regarding Little John and Madame ketchup's mistreatment of others.
BRAZZAVILLE (Reuters) - A giant three-tiered mushroom which measures a yard across and was found in the tropical forests of the Republic of Congo has left experts in the capital Brazzaville scratching their heads.
"It's the first time we've ever seen a mushroom like this so it's difficult for us to classify. But we are going to determine what it is scientifically," Pierre Botaba, head of Congo's veterinary and zoology center, told reporters on Thursday.
The giant fungi stands 45 centimeters (18 inches) high and has three tiered caps on top of a broad stem. The bottom cap measures one meter across, the second one 60 cm and the top one is 24 cm wide, Botaba said.
The bizarre-looking mushroom was found in the village of Mvoula about 40 miles from Brazzaville and transported carefully to the capital by the local chief.
Sorry I'm late...new thread on the way.
In other (unsurprising) news:
MAYBE Hollywood loves Michael Moore, as we reported the other day, but it seems that unless you are Meryl Streep, Susan Sarandon or Martin Scorsese, Moore doesn't love you. When left-wing organizers and civil rights activists call Moore's office to see if he will lend his voice to different causes supposedly close to his heart, they are snubbed.
"You get to speak to a Christine, who then refers all calls to Moore's personal assistant Jason Pollack," one activist told PAGE SIX. "But unless you are a star, your call never gets returned." It recalls other anecdotes about Moore, who — despite his man-of-the-people posture — is known to be high-handed with underlings and as demanding as any diva.
"Moore has become totally smitten with the Hollywood glamour and just loves his newfound niche in Hollywood," said our source. "A word to the wise, Mr. Moore, get ahold of who called Jason Pollack and return those calls, or you may find yourself with a pie in your face." (Page Six)
Also from Page Six:
TERESA Heinz Kerry didn't exactly knock 'em dead with her keynote address at last Thursday's New York State Democratic Jefferson-Jackson dinner, Post City Hall bureau man Stefan C. Friedman reports. Most high-ranking officials had already taken off before Sen. John Kerry's wife began her speech nearly an hour late, and those who remained were treated to an often-rambling missive delivered just above a whisper.
A particularly uncomfortable moment came when the ketchup heiress commented that if her late husband, Republican Sen. John Heinz of Pennsylvania, were still alive, he likely would have been at the dinner supporting her current husband. The morbid moment was met with uncomfortable silence. But one diner was anything but quiet after the half-hour speech ended. The Dem donor, who split seconds after Heinz's speech ended, could be heard saying, "That was the worst speech I've ever seen" as he exited the Hilton.
I am researching the Tepsic Family from Beaver County Pennsylvania if you could provide any informaion I would be very grateful.
The Tepsics are my husband's mother's folk. . I don't know that any of them were in Beaver County. As far as I know, they settled in and around Mingo Junction, Ohio, also having spent some time near Gary, Indiana. I will check with my husband and see if he knows of any relatives in Beaver.
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