WASHINGTON—Emphasizing that the commander-in-chief might want to get a head start on such a project soon, architect Owen Levin presented President Obama with generic options for a national memorial Tuesday that could feasibly honor an American war in Syria, Libya, or Yemen. “Our idea centers around a polished 30-foot Vermont marble panel that can either be inscribed with an image of servicemen trudging through a desert landscape, various military units’ coats of arms, stirring quotes about giving one’s life in defense of freedom, or any combination thereof,” said Levin, describing how his idea for a chain of bronze wreaths wrapping around a rectangular limestone base could work for each one of these conflicts, or all three. “We’ve also included a reflecting pool in the design that is ringed with placeholder names of battle sites, but these can easily be swapped out for Tripoli, Tikrit, Sana’a, Mosul—whichever ones you need.” Levin added that the flexibility of the memorial’s height allows it to hold anywhere from 2,000 to 200,000 soldiers’ names.

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