Sixteen million Americans served in World War II and of them 400,000 died. The 4,000 gold stars, the Field of Stars, on the Freedom Wall commemorate these war dead, and in front of the wall is the inscription: Here We Mark the Price of Freedom. Millions more ordinary citizens contributed in some way to the war effort. The National World War II Memorial on the National Mall honours their service and sacrifice.

The establishment of the memorial, however, was not without controversy as to both location and scale. After a bill was first introduced in 1987 it took a further six years before the legislation made its way through Congress. President Clinton signed the bill into law on May 25, 1993 and then there followed a great debate over where it should be located.

Words spoken by presidents and generals are inscribed throughout the memorial, including these by General Douglas MacArthur marking the war’s end: “ Today the guns are silent… the skies no longer rain death – the seas bear only commerce – men everywhere walk upright in the sunlight. The entire world is quietly at peace”.