Our nation honors her sons and daughters who answered the call to defend a country they never knew and a people they never met. The Korean War Veterans Memorial resides on the National Mall, southeast of the Lincoln Memorial and just south of the Reflecting Pool.

All of its components, including its walls, stainless steel statues and Pool of Remembrance, are dedicated to members of the U.S. Armed Forces that served and sacrificed during the Korean War. The memorial is free and open to the public 24 hours a day, with rangers on duty to answer questions from 9:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.

Images of troops moving by sea, land and air are sandblasted onto the surface of the wall, while a squadron of 19 stainless steel figures, including members from each branch of the U.S. Armed Forces, are situated in the center of the memorial space. When the 1,000-pound statues are reflected on the granite wall, there appears to be 38 soldiers, which represents the 38th parallel, the dividing line of North and South Korea during the conflict.

The Korean War Veterans Memorial consists of multiple structures that honor those who sacrificed during the three-year conflict (1950-1953) that was the Korean War. The memorial’s mural wall measures 164 feet long and eight inches thick, and from a bird’s eye view, the wall appears as an isosceles triangle, with the tip intersecting a circle over the Pool of Remembrance.