The memorial consists of 7.4 acres of bronze and granite, built around the reinvigorated Rainbow Pool that sits in between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. It's beautiful, and its final completion and dedication marks a victory over 17 years of fundraising effort and bureaucratic struggle. The designers largely satisfied critics that were worried about the disruption of sightlines between the Lincoln and Washington by building a plaza that maintains the openness of the rectangular National Mall. It's simply stunning.

An ongoing event was the National WWII Reunion celebration, held on the grounds of the Mall between 7th and 11th streets down by the Capitol. A variety of themed tents were set up, as well as a stage that featured continuous live entertainment.

On Friday, Kenneth Friendman came to pay his respects to veterans and perform a series of ritual chants.

"War is about killing. Many anti-war activists protest, but for us, war is a part of life. When a warrior gets to the playing field and takes a life, they take that soul. That life is yours. It becomes part of you. And those that don't come home, they're up there, waiting."

This is Tom Pinnock, who served as a C-46 transport pilot in the China-Burma-India theatre with the 20th Bomb Group, First Air Transport Squadron. Mr. Pinnock and his crew took greatly needed supplies from India to bases in China on a course that took them over "the Hump," otherwise known as the Himalayas. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal for successfully completing a tour of 44 extremely dangerous missions.

A C-46 flies over "the Hump."

Mr. Pinnock and his crew routinely flew in low-to-no visibility weather at an altitude no higher than 18,000 feet (because of atmospheric limitations). The Himalayas rise to 20,000 feet. When these non-pressurized planes didn't crash into mountain tops, they had to contend with mechanical failure, icing, thunderstorms and Japanese fighters that would intercept the transports from bases in Burma. He was the only member of his crew to survive the war.

On one particularly harrowing supply run, he took badly needed supplies to members of the 20th Bomb Group operating out of Chen Tu, China; attempts by several other crews to complete the route had failed. Flying by instruments in zero visibility, Mr. Pinnock drew near the location of the airbase, but couldn't land without a visual. He asked his crew if they would collectively volunteer to allow him to hunt for visibility below the lowest acceptable altitude limit, and they agreed. Putting his plane in a shallow dive, he finally broke through the cover of clouds and fog a mere 100 feet off of the ground, right over a field filled with terrified Chinese farmers. "We just popped out of the clouds and scared 'em so bad they were running for their lives," Pinnock said with a chuckle.

After getting his bearings and spotting the airbase, he was forced to put his plane into a dramatic, hard bank and almost immediately land at nearly full throttle. The mission was a success, and the grateful men of the 20th Bomb greeted the resupply group like the heroes that they were.

Thank you, Mr. Pinnock.

The 1940's version of Destiny's Child?

Soon the entertainment switched from speakers and Native-American chants to WWII era performers and big band music.

This cheeky gal warmed up the audience with a spot-on ditzy blonde ingenue routine. The crowd loved it.

"Doc Scanlon and the Imperial Palms Orchestra" flawlessly pounded out some of the greatest hits of the 20's, 30's and 40's. After two intro numbers, the band finally hit Glenn Miller's "In the Mood." The effect was dramatic and immediate ...

These vets weren't too old to get up and swing. They danced ...

... and danced ...

... and danced ...

... and danced. Worn out from merely watching these old cats move, I decided to pack it in, go home and get ready for Saturday's events.

Meet Elizes and Arturo Chavez, representing two generations of Navy service. Draftmans Mate Second Class Arturo Chavez is currently assigned to the Washington Navy Yard, where he serves as a graphic designer. His father, Machinists Mate Third Class Elizes Chavez, flew Navy trainers in Corpus Christie Texas during World War II. When I asked him what he did during the war, he quipped that he was "a flunkie." Pressed to elaborate, Mr. Chavez told me, "I signed up to shoot at Japs and I didn't see a single one." I think that Mr. Chavez underestimates his service as an aviator.

A North American AT-6/SNJ Texan trainer.

Thank you, Mr. Chavez.

The first event on Saturday was a "Tribute to a Generation" at the MCI Center. The show featured a live orchestra ...

... a movie with vintage footage ...

... and a live action play. Once again, a top-notch event that the vets seemed to enjoy immensely.

Heading over to the National Mall, I spotted some members of the the Rolling Thunder veterans' group that descends on Washington every Memorial Day Weekend. They were a welcome addition the the dedication festivities, as they made a point to emotionally thank every WWII veteran that they could possibly get their arms around.

As one veteran remarked to me, "I went over to the Vietnam Memorial, and say what you will about them bikers, but ... the men, the women ... yesterday they gave me more hugs and kisses than any man normally gets in a ten-year period."

A lone protestor sighting. I asked this lady why she was protesting the celebration, and she told me that "it glorifies war," and that she is "against all war." Even the casus belli for World War II has its detractor, I guess.

I'll let an excerpt from Senator Bob Dole's dedication speech answer this charge:

What we dedicate today is not a memorial to war, rather it's a tribute to the physical and moral courage that makes heroes out of farm and city boys, and inspires Americans in every generation to lay down their lives for people that they will never meet, for ideals that make life itself worth living.
...
Franklin Roosevelt presided over a global coalition to rescue humanity from those that would put the soul itself in bondage.

Meet Cpl. John Micik, who served on an M-10 tank destroyer in General Patton's Third Army in Europe, in what he describes as "very dangerous places."

"I never expected to come back alive. I was a gunner, but you had to know everybody's job; one guy got knocked off, you had to take his place. We had three inch guns on 'em, with armor piercing shells, and boy, we hit a German tank and the top blew right off!

An M-10 tank destroyer in France.

The only thing I can say is, thank God we came back alive. I never expected to come back alive for what I went through. I got a few scratches, but I ain't gonna call 'em wounds (laughs). When we hit their tanks, we got 'em. The big (German) tanks, they (were) thinking they were the best, but we outshot 'em."

On the drive to relieve Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge:

"Oh, that was terrible. We tried to do the best that we could though, you know? Everybody was on the alert; all we had on our minds is 'are we gonna make it?' (We fought) all the way till the end of the war.

All I can say is, thank God I came back alive."

Thank you, Mr. Micik.

The logistics behind the event were impressive; millions of bottles of water, hundreds of thousands of folding chairs, thousands of volunteers and much, much more. Here members of the Naval Sea Cadet Corps hand out bottles of water to ceremony attendees.

On the way over to Section Two seating for the ceremony, an uncomfortable reminder of our modern struggle: emergency tents were deployed around the perimeter to hose down any victims of a potential chemical attack.

Section Two seating was blocked off on the south side of the Reflecting Pool that sits between the World War Two Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial. Neatly aligned folding chairs, large screens and speaker towers were set up for the attendees' viewing pleasure. The ceremony itself took place about 50 yards away, at the side of the memorial that faces towards the Capitol dome.

The crowd was vast ...

... truly vast. A pleasant Spring day, the atmosphere was buzzing with emotion: sadness, pleasure, wistful remembrance, satisfaction and joy. Vets were thankful for the tribute and humbly proud of their service. Many of the families looked at their fathers, grandfathers and grandmothers with unrestrained adoration and pride.

Meet Cpl. Harvey Mayer, who served with the 5th Marine Division at Iwo Jima.

"I was on the fourth wave ... I was an amphibious truck crewman, and I had to take the supplies, ammunition, lumber, whatever, back up to the troops. I had my baptism of fire ... I had to circle around before I come in, because the beachmaster says they're still shelling the beach. But there were Destroyers over here, firing rockets."

Cpl. Mayer was in between the destroyers and the target, Mt. Suribachi.

"I says, 'I'm not gonna stay out here, I'm going in anyway!'"

Transports unload at Iwo Jima.

"There was no footing on the beach, and (farther inland) the first wave slowed up and the second slowed up, and they were caught ... in like, a killing field. You had Suribachi and the cliffs, where the Fourth Marine Division was held down. It's called enfilade and plunging fire, that's why it took a toll the first day. I got ashore and I reported to my CO, Mikey Nolan. He used to play football for the Chicago Bears, he was my CO. And I tell you, I'd follow that guy anywhere. He walked like, as if he was as big as Suribachi. He'd just walk around there (under fire), .45 in the back pocket, captain bars on his head ... I wish I could see him today, I'd shake his hand."

"Bullets would snap over my head. When I felt that, you know, I said that I'd better move. The second time (under fire) we had all our vehicles on the main road, feeling relaxed at the moment, waiting to take wounded back to the ship, and they opened up with a barrage of mortars. And we had to go fly back to our vehicles to get 'em out. We jumped in our vehicles and the mortar barrage got so intense we had to get back out and get on the ground, head-to-head, old Addison and Earney and me ... and Charles Addison was saying the Lord's Prayer, and me, I was so scared that I forgot to pray."

Finally, it was all over. I took a sergeant, his heel got blown off; I gave him a tourniquet and took him back to the ship. From then on it was moving on up.
...
We had the Japs holed up, they was withering on the vine."

Thank you, Mr. Mayer.

When Bob Dole mentioned Medal of Honor winners, this gentleman stood up and saluted. Some highlights from the ceremony:

General PX Kelley, US Marine Corps (ret)
Chairman, American Battle Monuments Commission

Quoting a chaplain at a foreign grave site:

Here lie officers and men, together. Blacks and white, together. Rich men and poor, together. Here no man prefers another because of his faith, and despises him because of his color. Here there are no quotas of how many from each group are admitted, or allowed. Among these men there is no discrimination, no prejudice, no hatred. Theirs is the highest democracy.

Tom Hanks

Had this memorial been erected at war's end, the surviving participants of the second world war would have long ago gathered here to remember those lost in the conflagration. Those that survived the battlefield ... and who sacrificed comforts would have already dedicated this memorial and then gone on to live in a new, yet still imperfect world. But as we now live in the third millenium, time demands that more than the fallen be remembered in this place of national honor. Let us remember not just those that lost their lives in the war, but all Americans who were alive, conscientious and who chose to serve as best they could in the years from 1941 to 1945. It is no embellishment to say that their lives were interrupted, their futures were forever altered, their dreams were held in scaffolds, while every minute of their youth was burdened with fear and loss and uncertainty.

George Bush:

On this Memorial Day weekend, the graves will be visited, and decorated with flowers and flags. Men whose step has slowed are thinking of boys they knew when they were boys together. And women who watched the train leave, and the years pass, can still see the handsome face of their young sweetheart. America will not forget them, either.

At this place, at this Memorial, we acknowledge a debt of long-standing to an entire generation of Americans: those who died; those who fought and worked and grieved and went on. They saved our country, and thereby saved the liberty of mankind. And now I ask every man and woman who saw and lived World War II -- every member of that generation -- to please rise as you are able, and receive the thanks of our great nation.

May God bless you.

A veteran and his wife continue extended applause for the President.

Besides one or two vaguely political points (Tom Brokaw, who else?), the speeches were mercifully devoid of divisive politics.

Larger image

Meet Harry G Adams, a sailor that served as the plane captain of a Corsair Squadron in the Pacific off of the USS Boxer, an Essex class carrier.

"A plane captain is responsible for maintaining the plane to make sure that the pilot was ready to fly. I was an Aviation Machinists Mate 2nd Class. That was my responsibility, to make sure that the plane was ready to go anytime general quarters were called. I served from 1942-46. Just working on the flight deck was dangerous; every landing was a potential casualty.

A Corsair prepares to take off from the deck of the USS Boxer.

"Not like the Forrestal, but we had bad fires. A plane would come in and had a belly-tank full of high-octane gas that he couldn't unload, and when he hit the arresting wires it hit the propeller and it burst into flame, and we burned for over a half-an-hour. We were concerned with fuel going down into the hangar deck. And you had to be very careful, this all happened when we were preparing to go out to the Pacific and the planes are always fully loaded with gas and ammunition and bombs.

I was at a Naval Air Station before going aboard the carrier. A lot of people didn't realize that there were a lot of German submarines operating off the East Coast. We even lost a couple planes that were shot down by German submarines ... here they were stationed in Brooklyn, NY, and lost their lives from combat. Because they caught a submarine on the surface, and they came in to drop depth charges on them and the gunners shot them down. These were huge planes that did not fly at high speeds but could be on patrol for hours, and they were easy targets for anti-aircraft fire."

When I asked him if he had any other stories of note, he became emotional.

"No, only that ... this memorial ... should have been done a long time ago ... to honor all the guys that can't be here. I was only 17 when I was in, and I'll be 80 ... and they shouldn't have missed this. I'm glad it's up now."

Me too. Thank you, Mr. Adams.

An old Marine salutes during the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance.

A flight of F-16's helped conclude the ceremony with a demonstration of the "missing man formation."

This concludes Part One of INDC's coverage of the World War II Memorial Dedication weekend. Please check back tomorrow for Part Two, which will feature more interviews with veterans, some beautiful shots of the memorial at night and my family's own story of sacrifice.

Some day shots of the memorial can be found at this earlier INDC photo essay and the Washington Post's fantastic gallery.

UPDATE: Part Two of this series can be found here.