World War II Memorial as seen from the Washington Monument in Washington, D. C.

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The World War II Memorial is open year-round, 24 hours a day. On most Saturdays and Sundays from mid-April through mid-December, park Rangers give a 30-minute lecture at 10 AM on the history of the memorial. The National Park Service offers other programs that rotate throughout the memorials on the National Mall. To find out what sort of activities are going on when you visit, see the National Park Service’s Calendar web page for the National Mall and Memorial Parks.

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The World War II Memorial is located on the National Mall on the opposite end of the Reflecting Pool from the Lincoln Memorial and is easily accessed from 17th Street in Washington, D. C. It has the distinction of being the last memorial erected on the National Mall, for as of 2003, no more memorials of any type can be added. Though constructed between 2001 and 2004, it had been approved by Congress in 1993. (The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial was constructed after this date, but it is not technically on the National Mall, which has a southern border of Independence Avenue.)

View of the World War II Memorial from 17th Street in Washington, D. C.

Nearly all of the money for the World War II Memorial was raised through private donations. The U. S. government only contributed $16 million of the approximate $200 million cost.

World War II Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D. C.

A national design competition was launched in 1996, and architect Friedrich St. Florian, a naturalized American citizen who was born in Austria, was announced the winner in 1997.

Rainbow Pool Fountain at the World War II Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D. C.

The monument’s design had to incorporate the Rainbow Pool Fountain, which had been built earlier as part of Constitution Gardens. Fifty-six pillars that represent the number of states and territories at the time of the war are split evenly and placed in a semicircle at each end of the oval fountain.

Fifty-six pillars of the World War II Memorial in Washington, D. C. represent the states and territories of the United States at the time of the war

Centered between the pillars at each end of the fountain is a massive pavilion representing the Atlantic and Pacific campaigns of World War II. The names of important battles are engraved around the fountain at the base of each pavilion.

The World War II Memorial’s Atlantic Campaign Pavilion and its fountain, National Mall in Washington, D. C.

On the west side of the monument, aligned with the Reflecting Pool, is a wall of 4,048 gold stars, each representing 100 U. S. causalities in the war.

Wall of Gold Stars on the World War II Memorial reflects in a pool at its base, National Mall in Washington, D. C.

Leading from 17th Street on either side of the memorial’s entrance are short walls, each containing 12 bas-relief sculptures of scenes from the war.

Bas-relief sculptures line the wall at the entrance to the World War II Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D. C.

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