In the nearly 2-1/2 decades since the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was unveiled on the Mall, the architecture of commemoration has become predictable and stale. Maya Lin's black wall, still resonant in its simplicity, has inspired many uninspired variations, as has the statuary added beside its stark planes.A single symbol is no longer enough to remind us of the dead. We expect plazas, pavilions, sculptures, fountains, gift shops -- much like a theme park, as evidenced by the overblown memorials to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and World War II. The United States Air Force Memorial, which is being dedicated today, is...
