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Washington, DC is a city full of monuments and memorials. They are built in order to honor the generals, politicians, poets, statesmen and all those who contributed in making America a great nation.

Most of the famous monuments and memorials are situated on the National Mall, in D.C, but statues and plaques can be found on many street corners around the city. We will discuss a few famous war memorials that definitely a must visit.

D.C. War Memorial

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The monument is a circular, open-air memorial that commemorates an estimate of 26,000 citizens of Washington, DC who served in World War I. The structure known to be made of Vermont marble and is big enough to accommodate the entire U.S. Marine Band.

Korean War Veterans Memorial

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This memorial was built to honor those who were killed, wounded, captured or remain missing in action during the famous Korean War (1950 -1953). The memorial consists of 19 statues of soldiers that represents a squad on patrol, drawn from every branch of the Armed Forces. The 19 figures are built in a manner where they create a reflection on the wall that symbolizes the border between North and South Korea, that is, the 38th parallel. Alongside the soldiers stands the Mural Wall that consists of more than 2,400 photographs of the many men, women, and even dogs who served in Korea.

Vietnam Veterans Memorial

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It’s a V-shaped granite wall inscribed with the names of about 58,286 Americans that went missing or were killed in the Vietnam War. The memorial is divided into three separate parts: The Three Soldiers statue, the Vietnam Women’s Memorial and the well-known Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall. Over time a controversy surrounded the memorial’s unconventional design for its dull and dark color and also lack of decoration, however, it soon became a place of grieving, pilgrimage and healing. Today it has proved to be one of the most visited and moving memorials on the National Mall, D.C. Visitors have made it a tradition of leaving mementos, letters and even photographs of loved ones that they lost in the war.

World War II Memorial

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The memorial is built with a combination of granite, bronze, and includes water elements with beautiful landscaping that creates a tranquil and peaceful place to remember those who served America as their nation during World War II. The National Park Service offers daily tours of the memorial every hour after hour making the visitors aware of the history and its symbolism.

Iwo Jima Memorial

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This memorial is also known as the United States Marine Corps War Memorial and is dedicated to all the marines who gave up their lives during one of the most known and historic battles of World War II, known as the battle of Iwo Jima. The statue placed there depicts a Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph which was taken by Mr. Joe Rosenthal of the Associated Press as he witnessed the flag-raising by five Marines and a Navy hospital corpsman at the end of the battle in year 1945.

United States Air Force Memorial

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This memorial can be counted as one of the newest memorials in the Washington, DC, which was completed in September 2006.

It was built to honor the millions of men and women who have served in the United States Air Force. The three spires at the memorial represents a bomb burst maneuver as well as the three core values: integrity, service before self, and excellence. The memorial also consists of a gift shop and restrooms are located in the Administrative Office, situated at the north end of the memorial.

Apart from the above discussed memorials, Washington D.C has more historic memorials, even ones that does not involve honoring Americans, for example, the U.S Holocaust Museum.