Newport News was the East Coast port of embarkation for nearly half a million American soldiers heading to France in 1917-18, and the city built the Victory Arch to welcome them home. The current 1962 stone version stands at the foot of West Avenue near the shipyard gates and the harbour. An eternal flame burns inside.
It is a small, dignified monument, and the most evocative thing to do here is to walk the few blocks of the old downtown and try to imagine what it looked like when transports were unloading 5,000 men a day onto these streets.