I personally hate the WWII monument. To me, it feels like a giant piece of propaganda, not a solemn homage to the veterans of the war. To me, being in it feels like watching a Soviet military review. My favorite monuments combine elegance, symbolism, education and purpose. Vietnam, for example is a perfect monument.
I get the smell you got off it, I'm just saying that the real thing is so over the top you can hardly believe it. -XC PS - I wouldn't put WWII in the top ten for bad things that happened to the world. Well, maybe it'd slide in around 9 or 10.
Curious, if WWII barely cracks your top 10, what does? I may put WWI above WWII, for the sole reason that II would much more appropriately be called The Great War, Part Two, but wow. 9 or 10. That's pretty low. Please elaborate. I feel a long thread discussion coming on.
I wasn't aware that they were paraphrasing his words?! WTF? That's just laziness. As for the perfect monument, I like the Jefferson. 1. the guy was amazing 2. it's beautiful and just far enough away from the others that it's rarely crowded. Great town!
The architect said that it was done for space considerations. Because of the rancorous controversy, the National Parks Service has since decided to remove the paraphrased quote and replace it with the actual one, apparently much to the architect's protest. I agree. I love DC, even though it seems to often embody so many negatives that go along with politics. Touristing it is amazing, given they have so much, and we all pay for it with our tax dollars, so it can all be seen at no charge. I don't think enough people know this. There aren't many places you can just walk in and out of some of the best art and history museums in the world at your leisure. If I ever have a family, I will take my kids regularly.Great town