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VOICE ONE:
Monday is Memorial Day in the United States. It is the nationalholiday when Americans honor the military men and women who died inbattle. Visitors to Washington, D-C, can see major memorials tothese men and women. I’m Phoebe Zimmermann.
VOICE TWO:
And I’m Steve Ember. The story of these memorials is our reporttoday on the VOA Special English program, THIS IS AMERICA.
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VOICE ONE:
That music is called “Taps.” It is played at military funerals tohonor soldiers who have died. The sound of “Taps” is heard atcemeteries throughout the United States as America honors its wardead.
The Memorial Day holiday started in eighteen-sixty-eight. Thepurpose was to honor soldiers killed during the Civil War betweenAmerica’s Northern and Southern states. Back then, the holiday wascalled Decoration Day. People used flowers and ribbons to decoratethe burial places of those killed during the war. Today, MemorialDay honors the men and women who died in all of America’s wars.
VOICE TWO:
The first yearly observance ofMemorial Day was at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington,Virginia. The cemetery is across the Potomac River from Washington,D.C. It is the largest and most famous national burial place in theUnited States. It covers more than two-hundred hectares of rollinghills.
Up and down the hills are lines of simple white stones markingthe graves. These are the burial places of more thantwo-hundred-thousand men and women who served in the military, andmembers of their families. Those laid to rest at Arlington includemilitary and political leaders, cabinet officers and Supreme Courtjudges. Not all served in the military; some were buried there as anhonor.
VOICE ONE:
Only two American presidents are buried at Arlington NationalCemetery. One is William Howard Taft. He was president in the earlynineteen-hundreds. The other is John Kennedy. He was president inthe early nineteen-sixties. He was murdered during his first term inoffice. A memorial flame burns at President Kennedy’s burial place.More people have visited his grave than any other in the UnitedStates.
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VOICE TWO:
Memorial Day ceremonies also arebeing held at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington. TheVietnam Veterans Memorial was the idea of Jan Scruggs. MisterScruggs fought in Vietnam. After the war, which ended innineteen-seventy-five, he was deeply troubled. He and others feltthat American soldiers killed in Vietnam had been forgotten. So, heorganized efforts to build a monument to honor them. He wanted toput on the monument the name of every American who died or wasmissing in the Vietnam War.
VOICE ONE:
In nineteen-eighty, a group of former soldiers announced anational competition. The veterans group invited American artists tocreate a memorial to help unite the nation after the Vietnam War haddivided it. Eight famous designers and artists were the judges. Theyjudged more than one-thousand-four-hundred designs. They chose thedesign of Maya Lin. Mizz Lin was twenty-one years old. She wasstudying architecture at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.She designed a memorial made of two black stone walls. The memorialopened in nineteen-eighty-two.
VOICE TWO:
The two black stone walls are set into the earth. They are aboutseventy-six meters long. They form a wide letter V. As you walk downinto the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the walls rise above you. Cutinto the walls are the names of more than fifty-eight-thousandAmericans who died or are still missing. The names are listed in theorder that the soldiers died. The earliest are from the latenineteen-fifties. Those who died together are remembered together.Nearby is a statue of three soldiers. They seem to be looking at thewall of names.
VOICE ONE:
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial has become one of the most-visitedplaces in Washington. Every year about one-and-a-half million peoplevisit. People who go there experience powerful emotions. Many say ithas become almost a holy place.
Almost any time of day, you can see people looking at the name ofa family member or a friend who died in Vietnam. Some reach out andtouch the name. Some put a piece of paper over it. They rub thepaper with a pencil so the name on the wall appears on the paper. Inthis way, they are able to take part of the memorial home with them.
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VOICE TWO:
After the success of the VietnamVeterans Memorial, veterans of the Korean War pressed for a memorialof their own. Congress approved the idea. In Julynineteen-ninety-five, the Korean War Veterans Memorial opened. It isnear the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. It honors the men and women whoserved — and those who died — in the Korean War fromnineteen-fifty to nineteen-fifty-three.
VOICE ONE:
The Korean War has been called “the last foot soldier’s war.” So,the memorial includes a series of nineteen statues of soldiers,walking. Artist Frank Gaylord created the statues from steel. Eachis more than two meters tall. The soldiers appear to be moving up ahill toward a large American flag.
The Korean War Veterans Memorial has several parts. On one sideof the memorial is a stone walkway. It shows the names of thetwenty-two countries that sent troops to serve in Korea under theUnited Nations command. On the other side is a shiny stone wall. Itshows images of more than two-thousand-four-hundred support troops.These include nurses, cooks and truck drivers. The faces werereproduced from photographs taken during the war.
VOICE TWO:
The last part of the memorial is the Pool of Remembrance. Thisround pool shows the number of American and United Nations forceswho died, or who were wounded, captured, or missing in the war. Thenumber totals more than two-million. Cut into the wall above thepool is the simple yet powerful message: “Freedom is not free.”
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VOICE ONE:
Work has begun on a National World War Two Memorial inWashington. But for now the newest war memorial in the capital areahas a long name. It is called the Women in Military Service forAmerica Memorial. It is very different from the other memorials. Itrecognizes the service of all the women who have taken part in thenation’s wars. More than two-million women have served, or currentlyserve, in the American military forces. President Ronald Reagansigned legislation in nineteen-eighty-six to honor women in themilitary.
A retired Air Force general, WilmaVaught, was chosen to lead the effort to build the memorial. Thememorial took eleven years to build. It cost twenty-two milliondollars.
VOICE TWO:
The women’s military memorial opened in Octobernineteen-ninety-seven. It is near the entrance to Arlington NationalCemetery in Virginia. Michael Manfredi and Marion Gail Weissdesigned the women’s memorial. It is a place of glass, water andlight. The memorial has a large wall that is shaped in ahalf-circle. In front of the memorial, two-hundred jets of watermeet in a pool. The designers say this fountain celebrates thecombined strength of many individuals.
Inside the memorial, the stories of women in wartime are cut intoglass panels. The memorial also has information about military womenon a computer. It includes names, pictures, service records andpersonal statements of about two-hundred-fifty-thousand militarywomen.
VOICE ONE:
General Vaught said it was important for women in the military tobe honored because their efforts have not been recognized. She saidthe Women in Military Service for America Memorial will help tell astory that has never been told before.
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VOICE TWO:
This program was written by Shelley Gollust and Jerilyn Watson.It was produced by Mario Ritter. I’m Steve Ember.
VOICE ONE:
And I’m Phoebe Zimmermann. Join us again next week for anotherreport about life in the United States on the VOA Special Englishprogram, THIS IS AMERICA.