The Memorial
The memorial is faced with Travertine limestone quarried near Tivoli, a few miles east of Rome, Italy. It consists of the tower containing the small devotional chapel, and the two extensive hemicycles to its front which embrace the Memorial court. The principal entrance to the memorial area is by the monumental staircase at the south end of the mall. At the top of these steps the Great Seal of the Commonwealth of the Philippines has been carved into the paving; this is the seal which was authorized for use during World War II and until the Republic had been established. To the right and left stretch the hemicycles; on the end facade of each is the dedicatory inscription:
IN PROUD REMEMBRANCE OF THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF HER SONS AND IN HUMBLE TRIBUTE TO THEIR SACRIFICES THIS MEMORIAL HAS BEEN ERECTED BY THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 1941-1945
Each hemicycle contains 24 pairs of fin walls upon the four faces on which are inscribed the names and particulars of 36,285 of our Missing:
- United States Army and Army Air Forces - 16,915
- United States Navy - 17,587
- United States Marine Corps - 1,727
- United States Coast Guard - 58
During World War II the United States Air Force was part of the United States Army as the United States Army Air Forces.
These gave their lives in the service of their Country in the regions from Australia northward to Japan, eastward to the Palau Islands and westward to China, Burma and India but their remains have not been identified, or they were lost or buried at sea. Their names include men from every State in the Union, also from the District of Columbia, Panama, Guam, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. At each end of each hemicycle is a map room. The memorial area offers many magnificent prospects over Manila toward Mount Arayat to the north, and over the Laguna de Bay toward Mount Makiling to the southeast and Tagaytay Ridge to the south. Without confirmed information to the contrary, a War Department Administrative Review Board established the official date of death of those commemorated on the Tablets of the Missing as one year and a day from the date on which the individuals was placed in Missing in action status.
Read more about this topic: Manila American Cemetery And Memorial
Famous quotes containing the word memorial:
“When I received this [coronation] ring I solemnly bound myself in marriage to the realm; and it will be quite sufficient for the memorial of my name and for my glory, if, when I die, an inscription be engraved on a marble tomb, saying, “Here lieth Elizabeth, which reigned a virgin, and died a virgin.””
—Elizabeth I (1533–1603)
“I hope there will be no effort to put up a shaft or any monument of that sort in memory of me or of the other women who have given themselves to our work. The best kind of a memorial would be a school where girls could be taught everything useful that would help them to earn an honorable livelihood; where they could learn to do anything they were capable of, just as boys can. I would like to have lived to see such a school as that in every great city of the United States.”
—Susan B. Anthony (1820–1906)