{"id":54942,"date":"2018-03-21T16:29:38","date_gmt":"2018-03-21T16:29:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/03\/21\/public-opinion-wanted-on-plans-for-new-desert-storm-war-memorial\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T09:47:05","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T09:47:05","slug":"public-opinion-wanted-on-plans-for-new-desert-storm-war-memorial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2018\/03\/21\/public-opinion-wanted-on-plans-for-new-desert-storm-war-memorial\/","title":{"rendered":"Public opinion wanted on plans for new Desert Storm War Memorial"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The National Desert Storm War Memorial Association, in cooperation with the National Park Service, is looking for comments from the public on a potential design of a memorial for Operation Desert Storm.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The memorial, which Congress has authorized to be built by 2021, will honor the soldiers who served and the 383 who died in operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs a Marine Corps veteran of Operation Desert Storm, I came to the startling realization six years ago that ODS was becoming a footnote in history, an insignificant speed bump as recollected by many,\u201d wrote Scott Stump<\/a>, CEO and president of NDSWMA, in an op-ed published by the Military Times<\/a> in 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The National Desert Storm War Memorial is the “antithesis to Vietnam,” according to Scott Stump. This initial design from 2012, will likely be changed significantly before the final version is approved. Photo courtesy of Randy Schumacher, CSO Architects.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe also had more than 600,000 Americans answer the call to serve, all of whom were ready to lay down their lives if required to do so. The service and sacrifice of this generation should never be forgotten.\u201d
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The initial design reflects the \u201cunique environmental and battle conditions\u201d of the war with a curved Kuwaiti limestone wall that shields visitors from their urban surroundings and mimics the successful \u201cleft-hook\u201d maneuver that coalition forces used, according to the NDSWMA website<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A sketch of the 23rd and Constitution Ave location. This is the association’s preferred location, for its proximity to the Lincoln Memorial and the other war memorials, specifically the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Photo courtesy of Randy Schumacher, CSO Architects.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Through wall carvings and statues, it will also serve to educate people about the historical events of Desert Storm, identify the 34 coalition countries, and memorialize the names of all the Americans who sacrificed their lives in the war, according to the website for the association, which is led by Honorary Board Chairman and former President George H.W. Bush, and a board of directors made up of Desert Storm veterans. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The proposed design varies for each of the three locations being considered, according to Stump. All are close to the National Mall, and the first two are near the Lincoln Memorial. The three locations are: the end of Constitution Avenue near 23rd Street NW; the Constitution Avenue Belvedere, near Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway NW; and Walt Whitman Park on E Street NW.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The association prefers the location at Constitution and 23rd for its proximity to the other war memorials and to the Lincoln Memorial, as both speak of liberation, according to Stump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe feel that it\u2019s very important to have a memorial that\u2019s very easily accessed by pedestrians who are visiting the other war memorials, or commemorative memorials, in West Potomac Park,\u201d Stump told the Military Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\t