The American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial is a memorial in Washington, D.C., which honors veterans of the armed forces of the United States who were permanently disabled during the course of their national service. Congress adopted legislation establishing the memorial on October 23, 2000, authorizing the Disabled Veterans for Life Memorial Foundation to design, raise funds for, and construct the memorial. The fundraising goal was reached in mid-2010 and ground for the memorial broken on November 10, 2010. The memorial was dedicated by President Barack Obama on October 5, 2014.
The American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial is located on a triangular parcel bounded by 2nd Street SW, Washington Avenue SW, and the on-ramps from both streets to I-395. The site is adjacent to and east of the Hubert H. Humphrey Building, headquarters of the Department of Health and Human Services; adjacent to and northeast of the Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr. Federal Building; and southeast and adjacent to the Bartholdi Fountain portion of the grounds of the United States Botanic Garden. The site is federally owned and under the administrative jurisdiction of the National Park Service.
The memorial was designed by Michael Vergason of Michael Vergason Landscape Architects, with sculptor Larry Kirkland consulting. Architectural services were supplied by Shalom Baranes Associates, and engineering services by RK&K Engineers. Technical assistance for the fountain and reflecting pool were provided by Fluidity, Inc. Technical assistance in graphic design was provided by Cloud Gehshan Associates, and consultant Claude Engle assisted with the lighting design.
Description The memorial consists of five elements: A fountain in the shape of a five-pointed star, in height and set on the northern end of the site. The fountain is clad in a nearly black granite known as St. John's Black. Water in the basin overflows the sides of the fountain, and is collected in a small trough at the base of the structure. In the center of the fountain is an eternal flame. Jets below the surface of the water generate bubbles of natural gas, which rise to the surface. Two igniters, hidden among five decorative stones which just break the surface, ignite the gas, which rises to a flame about high (although this varies due to weather). Sensors monitor the flame to ensure a smooth flow of gas and that the igniters function properly. Pressure sensors in the basin automatically stop the flow of gas should anyone attempt to climb into the fountain. The system is monitored and controlled remotely via the Internet, allowing both the operator (the NPS) and the fabricator (Technifex) to operate the system. The fountain is designed to remain filled but not overflow during winter months. A reflecting pool which extends south and southeast from the star-shaped fountain. The reflecting pool rises from the plaza and is also made of St. John's Black granite. The memorial is designed so the water in both the fountain and the reflecting pool reflect the nearby Capitol building. A "Wall of Gratitude", which consists of two long, walls of reinforced concrete clad in an almost pure white granite known as Bethel White (quarried near Bethel, Vermont). This wall extends along the western wide of the site, and inscriptions are carved into the east face of both segments. On the northern segment are quotations from General George Washington and General Dwight Eisenhower, and the name of the memorial. Quotations expressing gratitude for the sacrifices of disabled veterans are inscribed on the southern segment of the wall. A passage between the two segments is cut so that it orients visitors toward the Capitol dome. The "Voices of Veterans" area, which forms the southern portion of the site. This exhibit consists of three staggered glass walls consisting of a total of 49 panels. Each panel is high, wide, and thick; weighs ; and consists of five sheets of Starphire glass laminated together. On the interior sheets of glass are inscribed photo-realistic images of veterans and quotations from veterans describing their devotion to duty, what it was like to be wounded, and how they came to terms with their disability. Four bronze panels, with silhouettes of soldiers cut from their center, stand behind some of the glass panels. The four bronze panels feature a saluting soldier in full dress uniform, a soldier rescuing a wounded comrade (who is slung over his shoulders), a running soldier bowed beneath a full pack, and a soldier with an amputated leg using crutches to hold himself upright. A grove of memorial trees. The "Voices of Veterans" element is set among the trees of the northern part of this grove. A pedestrian walkway passes through the grove south of the "Voices of Veterans", to give local workers a means of passing through the site.
Landscaping elements form an integral part of the memorial design. A row of ginkgo trees lines the side of the site west of the "Wall of Gratitude", as well as both sides of the wide sidewalk on the Washington Avenue side of the site. Planting beds approximately deep exist behind each glass wall. Ground cover consists of mondo grass and lily turf. Shrubs used at the site include Carolina allspice, dwarf sweet pepperbush, Harry's garnet sweetspire, "Gulftide" holly osmanthus, and Burkwood viburnum. Perennial plantings at the site include marginal wood fern, autumn fern, lenten rose, Virginia bluebell, and woodland sedge.
Most of the memorial is paved using a gray granite known in the stone trade as Virginia Mist. All paving stones were treated with a thermal coating to help them resist weatherization.
Perimeter lighting along city sidewalks bordering the site is provided by standard single- or double-globe D.C. standard streetlights. Metal halide lights illuminate the eastern side of the "Wall of Gratitude", the flagpole, and the memorial grove. LED lights are used to backlight each glass wall, and for under-lighting the granite benches at the site.
Origins Legislative approval In 1995, Lois Pope, widow of National Enquirer owner Generoso Pope Jr., met a disabled American veteran at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and realized there was no memorial in the city which honored disabled veterans. Although she did not know him, Pope called the office of Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jesse Brown to plead for a memorial. Pope called every day for the next six months, until finally Brown's secretary put her call through. Brown agreed to support legislation establishing a memorial. Because the Commemorative Works Act (CWA) of 1986 (P.L. 99-625) barred the expenditure of federal funds for memorials, a foundation needed to be established to oversee private fundraising. Brown introduced Pope to Art Wilson, the national adjutant (CEO) of the Disabled American Veterans (DAV), an organization founded in 1920 to assist disabled veterans. The DAV was itself not a nonprofit, and thus Pope and Wilson agreed that a new foundation, the Disabled Veterans for Life Memorial Foundation (DVLMF; also known as the Disabled Veterans' LIFE Memorial Foundation) should be created. Brown (who left office in 1997), Pope, and Wilson incorporated the foundation in 1998, and Wilson was named its president.
They and their supporters began lobbying Congress to win passage of the necessary federal legislation. The effort was announced on November 9, 1998.; ; They received the support of Senators John McCain (R-Arizona), Max Cleland (D-Georgia), and John Kerry (D-Massachusetts), who introduced legislation authorizing a memorial in January 1999 (106th Congress). Companion legislation was introduced in the House of Representatives by Representative John Murtha (D-Pennsylvania).
The CWA proved to be an obstacle for the memorial foundation, as it barred construction of any memorial on the National Mall or its immediate environs unless 25 years had passed since the event, or the last surviving member of the group had died. Exemptions could be made for events or individuals of singular importance or long-lasting historic significance. That exemption could only be issued by the National Capital Memorial Commission (NCMC). The memorial foundation sought just such an exemption, but in November 1999 the NCMC denied the exemption. Veterans groups were outraged, and Pope declared that "bureaucracy" was standing in the way of honoring people who had "taken a bullet" for the nation. The NCMC defended its decision, pointing out that Congress enacted the law to slow the rapid proliferation of memorials on the Mall. The agency also noted that there were already many memorials to veterans and to several wars on the National Mall. Since very little space remained for memorials, what was left should be kept open for future generations, NCMC officials argued.
In the wake of this decision, the legislation's backers in Congress quickly added new language to their bill exempting the memorial from the CWA's National Mall ban. The National Park Service (NPS) and the Department of the Interior now opposed the legislation because of this exemption. But Congress quickly approved the bill, and President Bill Clinton signed it into law (Public Law 106–348) on October 24, 2000.
Most of the rules of the CWA still applied to the disabled veterans memorial, however. The memorial foundation was required to raise enough private funds to design and build the memorial, and an amount equal to 10 percent of the memorial's construction cost also needed to be raised and placed in a trust fund for the memorial's maintenance and operation. The CWA gave the foundation seven years to begin construction, or its authorization would expire.
Site selection
The first site selected by the memorial foundation was disapproved. The foundation asked for a site within the Reserve, an area which included the National Mall and its immediate surroundings. On January 16, 2001, the NCMC voted 6-to-0 (with one abstention) to deny approval for a memorial anywhere in the Reserve. Foundation executives were angered. Jesse Brown, now executive director of the foundation, said the NCMC was declaring that "2.3 million disabled veterans are not good enough" to be on the Mall. Lois Pope took issue with the NCMC's conclusion that the memorial was not of lasting importance or historic significance, arguing, "We wouldn't have freedom if it wasn't for these men and women." Two weeks after the ruling, The Washington Times published an editorial by Art Wilson which attacked the NCMC's decision. The DVLMF considered asking Congress to overturn the NCMC's ruling, but decided against doing so. Extensive controversy surrounded the decision of the World War II Memorial's advisory board to seek an exemption for its memorial, which led to expensive lawsuits and significantly delayed its construction. "We [didn't] want to go down that road," said Brown.