War Memorial

* Seeing artists’ renderings of the proposed World War II memorial on the mall in Washington (editorial and Calendar, July 19) brought to mind not the sacrifices of American servicemen and women in that conflict, but the designs of Albert Speer, Hitler’s favorite architect and his minister of armaments.

The football field-size oval site surrounded by 17-foot-high stone pillars reminded me of Speer’s design for the 1934 Nazi Party rally in Nuremberg, where he surrounded the Zeppelin Field with antiaircraft spotlights to produce columns of light. The four-story-tall triumphal arches are reminiscent of similar bloated, soulless designs Speer and Hitler planned for the monuments of the Third Reich. The four sculpted eagles holding victory laurels bring to mind the Nazi icon of the eagle holding in its talons a victory laurel encircling a swastika.

What was the architect of the World War II memorial thinking when he came up with this design? Give us a memorial that honors those Americans who fought and the ideals they fought for.

DENNIS PISZKIEWICZ

Laguna Beach

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Thank you for your editorial critical of both the design and placement of the proposed memorial. It may contribute to a more thoughtful political process that concludes that the memories of those who served the world so well are not recognized by the current, poorly designed proposal and the resulting scar on the National Mall. Politicians are loath to be seen as opposing a memorial to those who gave so much. The public and the politicians must recognize that thoughtful opposition to the proposed project is not opposition to a memorial but is opposition to poor judgment.

DAVID LUNDIN

Rancho Santa Fe

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I say “oh yes,” build the monument. Your objections came too late. I say “full speed ahead, attack.” Build this monument as planned.

FRANK SCHROEDER

Torrance