Comment by tondo
The reasoning here is along the same lines of allowing kids to sled on the capitol grounds. If people want to wade, in defiance of the wishes of the architects and planners, the failure belongs to the...
View ArticleComment by Froggie
As a retired Navy sailor, someone (I forget who..might've been Tim) asked my opinion on this when the story first broke. In short, I see this as a place of reflection, but given how pissant hot...
View ArticleComment by jobrohobo
This is a very good post. My last visit to this memorial was with an Honor Flight of WWII vets, and the last thing they wanted was to be was quiet and introspective. They all had unbelievable stories...
View ArticleComment by Bob
@ Tondo-- There's a huge difference between kids sledding on Capitol Hill (a good, longstanding neighborhood practice and a last vestige in today's security environment of the Capitol's...
View ArticleComment by Falls Church
Every sign is a failure of leadershipAnd this sign is a failure of design. But, just because the designers failed our veterans doesn't mean the rest of America should fail to give them the respect and...
View ArticleComment by Falls Church
Every sign is a failure of leadership." For example, if you need a sign saying "no smoking," it's because you didn't properly train your sailors not to smoke in that space.Then let's train and educate...
View ArticleComment by Tom A
Why is mournful solemnity the intended way - we WON WW2. We lost relatively few soldiers (compared to every other major combatant at least), basically had no damage on the home front, and the effort...
View ArticleComment by OX4
Lord have mercy, who cares if someone wants to dip their feet? The first issue here is that the NPS treats people like an annoyance to their job of walking around pieces of stone all day. The second...
View ArticleComment by Falls Church
Why is mournful solemnity the intended way - we WON WW2Go ask the committee that represented vets in funding and constructing the memorial. Solemnity was their intention.Also, there are no winners in...
View ArticleComment by tondo
Turning a memorial to those who sacrificed (some, ultimately)into a splash park is something else entirely.The designer did that, by installing splashy fountains playfully throwing cool water in every...
View ArticleComment by Falls Church
As a sidenote, the WW2 memorial isn't the only place where people don't know how to act when there's a design failure (or can't be bothered to show respect): "Show some respect. That's the message...
View ArticleComment by Scott
I agree with the author of the post that an enthusiastic and lively memorial can still honor World War 2 veterans. Take, for example, the World War 1 memorial in Waikiki. It is literally a swimming...
View ArticleComment by jenny
The WWII Memorial fountain is a fountain, not a pool. As such, it has large jets and protruding metal tubing not far in from the edge. Wading in this FOUNTAIN is dangerous. I saw first hand a young...
View ArticleComment by Falls Church
Lord have mercy, who cares if someone wants to dip their feet?...Let's sit back for a moment and consider that putting your feet in the WWII pool is not disrespecting anyone.The committee that...
View ArticleComment by Scott
@ Jenny Yes, that is a very good point. As someone else in the comments suggested, perhaps it's possible to make the fountain that looks like a wading pool safer for wading?
View ArticleComment by Tom Coumaris
Everyone told them this was the worst location for this ironically neo-fascist architecture memorial.
View ArticleComment by Wendy in Washington
The only feature that "works" in this quasi-fascist memorial is the wading pool. It looks like a wading pool; it functions like a wading pool, and it will be used as one. Because we are FREE to do so,...
View ArticleComment by massysett
To me, the natural enthusiasm and activity imbued within the World War II memorial evokes the spirit of relief and jubilation of the end of the war. That's a charitable view of this memorial. Of all...
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