Korean War Veterans Memorial

The Korean War Veterans Memorial, opened in 1995, commemorates the 36,574 Americans killed during the Korean War (1950–1953) — a conflict sometimes called 'The Forgotten War' because it was overshadowed by World War II before it and Vietnam after. The memorial attempts to correct that forgetting through sheer physical presence.

The 19 stainless steel soldier figures, sculpted by Frank Gaylord, are accompanied by a granite wall etched with 2,500 faces — photographic portraits of servicemen and women compiled from Pentagon archives. The combination of three-dimensional figures and the faces reflected in the polished wall creates an effect of uncanny doubling. The memorial is open 24 hours and is best visited at dawn or dusk when the light on the steel figures is most dramatic.

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The Korean War Memorial's 19 stainless steel soldier figures are arranged in a patrol formation, moving through juniper bushes toward an American flag. At night, their polished surfaces catch light in a way that makes them look spectral — a deliberate effect that has led to the memorial being described as the most haunting of the Mall's monuments.