This is the official site
for the National Afghanistan & Iraq
Freedom Reigns Memorial. This memorial has three distinctive
features.
- Individual tributes will
be used to honor the fallen. Each tribute will include a
photograph
and personal dedication. (Desert Shield/Storm, Operation
Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation New
Dawn)
- Names of those officially listed as
war wounded, three categories, will be included on memorial
stones.
- The memorial will include those from
our coalition forces as well as the public safety personnel*
who sacrificed their lives helping others after the 9/11
attacks on the World Trade Center towers.
*
The public safety personnel will be featured in a separate
dedication housed in Memorial hall. We are considering the
addition of a separate memorial in New York, the site of the
attacks, for the public safety personnel using an identical
but downsized footprint. The design similarity will unify the
two memorials.
This site is the beginning of a process. It will
move through distinct phases. These phases will be:
- Initial design of the memorial.
Changes will be made periodically as new ideas are
considered.
- Presentation of the memorial design. Endorsement
presentations.
- Fund raising for the memorial.
- The collection of biographical information
and photos of our fallen heroes.
- Documentation of progress.
- Historical account of the memorial's construction
and dedication.
- Yearly updates on additions to the memorial.
This will be a 'living
memorial'. Each year, after the initial dedication,
fallen heroes and wounded will be added until the theaters of war
in Iraq and Afghanistan have been declared over. We don't
feel it's necessary to wait until these wars are over before we
honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for freedom. In
many cases memorials to our military and public safety personnel
have taken decades to put in place, ie. the World War II Memorial. Why
wait years to honor these
heroes. They are making sacrifices today!
Jan Scruggs, who conceived
and raised the funds for the
Vietnam Veterans Memorial, said in a March
25, 2007 Parade Magazine article, "Soldiers
need supplies, medical care and compensation, but they also need
to know we appreciate their sacrifice. The memorial remembers those
who put everything on the line for the nation." We believe
the men and women who made the same sacrifice today deserve the
same appreciation.
Imaging
- Diamond Memory Tributes
  The
imaging technology that will be used in this memorial is unique.
High resolution images are etched into black surgical
stainless steel. These tributes can withstand the
elements for thousands of years. If you would like to read
more technical information about these
tributes
please
click here. At
right is a rendition of how a section of Radiant Red granite
will look that features the names of the wounded on 8" x
10" tributes.
The following is quoted from the Faces
of the Fallen Website.
"Faces
of the Fallen is an exhibit of more than 1,300 individual portraits
honoring America’s service men and women who died in
Afghanistan and Iraq during the period October 2001 to November
11, 2004. It has been on view at the Women In Military Service
For America Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery since March
2005. Talented artists from across the country have donated
these works as their gift to a grateful nation and ultimately
to the families themselves.
This unique tribute
has been conceived and organized by private individuals and
funded entirely with
private donations. It reflects the desire, expressed in many
communities and cities across the country, to honor these brave
men and women."
“To say that this exhibition is moving
would be an understatement. Words
always fall short when we try to describe our respect, sympathy
and profound gratitude to those who have sacrificed everything
in the service to our nation. . . The artists
have succeeded where our words have failed.”
- General Richard B. Myers,
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (The Citizen, July 6, 2005)
We want people to see more than names and dates
when they visit this memorial. This etching technique makes available
the ability
to remember faces in high resolution on materials that will survive
the outdoor elements for thousands of
years.
These special tributes make this
memorial the first of
its kind in the world. The designers determined that the first
use of these special tributes on a national monument should honor
our military and public service heroes. And not only heroes from
the US military, but heroes representing our coalition forces
as well. This will truly be an International
Memorial.
Memorial
Renditions
We are extremely grateful to Mr.
Ricardo Garces for his exquisite memorial renditions.
We invite you to visit his Website to see more of his outstanding work. |
.jpg "Memorial Hall")