The Korean War Memorial: Forgotten Faces
My Experience
As I stepped off my red citi bike onto the cobblestone path surrounding the Korean War Memorial, I was greeted by numerous faces staring east towards the Washington Monument. The faces represented different cultures, identities, and homes. To my left was a sprawling wall, over 150 feet long, also with unfamiliar faces. The faces were mostly of young men, many looking intense, scared, or bewildered. This wall contains only faces: there are no names, birthdays, or military status identifying these young men, leaving the viewer to speculate about their lives and their eventual fate. As I look down at the field of soldiers, eternally still in their charge, the sun begins to set. The faces on the wall begin to darken until they are completely obscured by the shadows. This is the memorial of the forgotten.
A Brief History
The Korean War was fought between 1950 and 1953, in which nearly 40,000 Americans were killed in action, with thousands more forever missing. The Korean War Memorial was built around 40 years later, and was dedicated in 1995. In 1989, the final design for the memorial was chosen based around the perception of the Korean War as the “forgotten war.” The Korean war is often regarded as the forgotten war due to the large overshadowing of the conflict by wars such as World War 2 and the Vietnam War. However, this war was very significant, exemplified by “the diversity of American troops who fought in the war, and how it was regarded as the first conflict of the Cold War” (2).
The Design
To emphasize this war as a neglected conflict, the architects settled on a final design that would include two sections; a memorial of 19 statues to represent the diverse group of Americans that fought in this conflict, and a mural wall with photographs of nearly 2,500 service men. The design was originally won by an architect team from the Pennsylvania State University, but after the design was changed, and an unsuccessful lawsuit was filed, their names were removed from the statue. The final design was modified by Cooper-Lecky architects. Although there were slight accessibility modifications, the statues have remained the same for almost 30 years.
The Statues
The first portion of the memorial, the field of statues, represents 19 sculptures, each around 7 feet tall. The statues were sculpted by Frank Gaylord of Barre, VT and Tallix Foundries of Beacon, NY. These statues represent an “ethnic cross section” of America, as they include men from different service types, duties, races, and the statues even hold different weapons. The statues stand in a patch of “juniper bushes and are separated by polished granite strips, which give a semblance of order and symbolize the rice paddies of Korea.” The soldiers wear ponchos, which adds a touch of realism, as during the war many soldiers wore ponchos to protect themselves from the cold Korean winds. Out of the 19 soldiers, different servicemen include members of the army, marines, and navy. There are white, black, asian, hispanic, and a native American soldier represented in the memorial, with duties including medics, scouts, squad leaders, and riflemen. There is truly a unique life represented in every statue, which to the viewer of this monument, successfully accomplishes the architect’s goals; although these statues are not based on real soldiers, they each tell a story. The statues remind Americans that each face they see and each soul that perished leaves a distinct history.
Soldiers represented by the Korean War Memorial. The soldier on the left represents a white scout leader. The soldier in the middle represents a white scout. The soldier in the middle right represents a black BAR man.
A soldier, an assistant group leader, white, charging east towards the American flag and Washington Monument. His statue represents one of the 5.8 million soldiers who served in the Korean War.
The detail on each sculpture, face, and outfit is crucial to making the viewers feel as if they are truly in the presence of 19 different individuals.
A family walking down the pathway in between the memorial wall and statues. Over three million Americans visit this memorial each year, including thousands of Korean War veterans.
The Mural
Located to the left of the statues is the Korean Memorial mural wall. This mural, designed by Louis Nelson of New York and fabricated by Cold Spring Granite Company of Cold Spring, Minnesota, consists of over 41 panels, and spans around 164 feet. On the mural are over 2,400 photographs of the faces of Korean War soldiers, including Army soldiers on the left half, and Air Force and Navy soldiers taking up the remaining right half of the wall. When the mural is viewed from afar, it comes together with the reflection of the statues to create an image of 38 men, representing the 38th parallel that this war was fought on, and the 38 months of war. Additionally, the mountain ranges of Korea can be seen in the shadows behind the soldiers’ faces. The multifaceted approach that the designers took when creating this mural wall works in harmony with the statues to create a piece of art rooted in history and symbolism.
The Korean War Memorial mural spans over 150 feet alongside the soldiers, allowing viewers to walk in between the statues and the faces.
Over 2,400 real people are represented in this mural. This creates a distinction between the statues, who don’t represent particular people. This mural adds a new level of intimacy to the memorial.
Current Significance
Since the Korean War Memorial’s dedication in 1995 by current United States President Bill Clinton and South Korean President Kim Jong Sam, it has served as a bridge between Korean and American culture. Currently, the memorial is undergoing a renovation to include the names of 36,634 US soldiers and 7,174 Korean soldiers who were part of an augmentation to the United States army. This is a subsequent step in uncovering the names and faces of the forgotten. South Korea’s Veterans Affairs Minister Park Min-shik plans to, “attend a ceremony celebrating the completion of a new Korean War memorial monument in Washington DC this Friday, July 29th, where he will read a message from President President Yoon Suk-yeol” (5). This soon to be addition to the memorial is the first of its kind, as it will be the first monument to have names of the dead from a foreign country, in this case South Korea. The South Korean government offered over $20 million dollars to help build this remembrance wall, illustrating the continual collaboration between these two countries to recognize the joint effort and casualties in the war. To the right of the statues, there is a plaque of all the countries that participated in this war, proving to be perhaps the most internationally significant memorial in Washington D.C. Everyday, thousands of American adults, children, and veterans visit this memorial. It continues to symbolize the forgotten war, but with every visitor that takes a moment to stare at the statues trudging forward, or the faces etched into the wall, the war becomes a little less forgotten.
Map of Monument
Video of monument
Links for further reading
- https://www.history.com/topics/korea/korean-war
- https://www.wehonorveterans.org/working-for-veterans/by-conflict/korea/#:~:text=The%20Korean%20War%20is%20often,battle%20of%20the%20Cold%20War.
- https://www.abmc.gov/about-us/history/korean-war-memorial
- https://www.defense.gov/Multimedia/Experience/Korean-War-Memorial/
- https://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20220722000168
Links for future Viewing