Korean War Veterans Memorial

The Korean War Veterans Memorial sits in West Potomac Park, southeast of the Lincoln Memorial and across the Mall from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Dedicated in 1995, it honours the roughly 36,000 American dead and 8,200 missing of the Korean War (1950-1953). At its centre stand 19 stainless-steel soldier figures by Frank Gaylord, slightly larger than life, advancing in V-formation through a stylised rice paddy; the adjoining Pool of Remembrance reflects the number 38, a tribute to the 38th parallel. A polished black granite wall carries some 2,500 sandblasted faces of medics, mechanics, pilots and Marines drawn from US National Archives photographs. Since 2022 a Wall of Remembrance lists every named American killed in action. The memorial is free and particularly striking after dark, when the soldiers are illuminated.