Korean War Veterans Memorial Tours

Dedicated in 1995, this memorial to the troops who fought in the Korean War (1950-1953) lies adjacent to the Lincoln Memorial in West Potomac Park, at the south end of the Reflecting Pool on the National Mall. Created by sculptors Louis Nelson and Frank Gaylord, this depiction of a walled triangle intersecting a circle is assembled from over 100 tons of granite and includes 19 stainless steel statues, each over seven feet tall, which symbolize a patrol squad assembled from every branch of the armed forces.

These steel statues, when reflected on the walled triangle, appear to be 38 figures, representing the 38th parallel, Korea’s location on a map. The wall of the triangle itself incorporates over 2,500 sandblasted photographic images depicting scenes from the Korean War. The memorial’s circle encloses a reflecting pool, a grove of trees, and a ring of benches, as well as inscriptions of the numbers of people who were wounded, killed, missing in action, and more. Juniper and Rose of Sharon bushes planted around the memorial symbolize the South Korean landscape.

The closest Metrorail station is Foggy Bottom at 23rd and I Streets, approximately 7/10 of a mile away and serving the Orange and Blue Lines.