History
In January 1992, the Air Force Memorial Foundation was incorporated to pursue the development of a memorial that would honor the people in the United States Air Force. In December 1993, President William Clinton signed Pub.L. 103-163 authorizing the Air Force Memorial. In 1994, the National Capital Memorial Advisory Commission approved a site adjacent to Marshall Drive and State Route 110, down the hill from the Netherlands Carillon, known as Arlington Ridge. Fundraising and detailed designs began.
Because the site was near the United States Marine Corps Memorial, which is just north of the Carillon, various Marine groups were briefed on the plans without voicing objections. However, on 30 July 1997, Congressman Gerald B.H. Solomon (R-NY), a Marine veteran, introduced a bill to prohibit the construction of any monument, memorial or other structure "within view" of the Iwo Jima Memorial. The Air Force Association organized support for the memorial on behalf of its membership and Air Force veterans, and the issue became a polarizing one between the services.
On 16 September 1997, the Friends of Iwo Jima and Solomon filed for a Temporary Restraining Order against the construction of the Air Force Memorial, which was dismissed on 15 June 1998. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit then dismissed the appeal of that decision on 7 May 1999. Faced with the cost of litigation and the opposition of prominent Marine veterans in Congress, the Foundation agreed to move the Memorial to its present site, at the east end of Columbia Pike, on the grounds of Fort Myer just south of Arlington National Cemetery.
Here, it has a view of the Pentagon and across the river to prominent structures of Washington, D.C.On 28 December 2001, President George W. Bush signed the Defense Authorization Bill, which included a rider directing the Department of Defense to make available to the Air Force Memorial Foundation up to 3 acres (12,000 m2) of the Naval Annex property for use as the location for the memorial. Formal groundbreaking of the site was held in September 2004. Construction of the spires began in February 2006 and was completed in seven months.
The memorial was dedicated on 14 October 2006, with approximately 30,000 persons attending. The keynote address was delivered by President Bush, a former F-102 Delta Dagger pilot in the National Guard. The first official ceremony at the memorial was held the next day when Secretary of the Air Force Michael Wynne laid beneath the spires a memorial wreath for fallen airmen. The first non-military group to perform at the memorial was the Timpview High School Marching Band in April 2008. During the summer, The United States Air Force Band presents free concerts on Wednesday and Friday evenings.
"To all who have climbed sunward and chased the shouting wind, America stops to say: your service and your sacrifice will be remembered forever, and honored in this place by the citizens of a free and grateful nation." —President George W. Bush at acceptance ceremony.
The Air Force Memorial Foundation, the organization created to plan for and build the Memorial, continues today as an affiliate of the Air Force Association.
Read more about this topic: United States Air Force Memorial
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