Air Force Gets Its First Washington Memorial
President Bush dedicated a memorial honoring the U.S. Air Force, saying the nation gives tribute to the courage of the men and women who “gave their lives so that their fellow Americans could enjoy a bright horizon of freedom and peace.”
The Air Force was the only branch of the U.S. military services without a memorial in the Washington area. More than 54,000 men and women of the Air Force have died in combat.
The Arlington memorial, designed by architect James Ingo Freed, replicates Air Force jets performing a “bomb burst” formation. Three arcs spiral into the sky, standing 270 feet tall. Cost of the memorial was estimated at $30 million.
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