Tourist attraction
Air Force Memorial
Curved stainless-steel spires evoking jet contrails, honoring Air Force service and sacrifice.
0:00≈ 2 min
Location
0:00≈ 2 min
About this audio guide
This guide to the Air Force Memorial in Washington, D.C. opens with a question about its three spires, answered by architect James Ingo Freed's deliberate nod to a formation flown at every Air Force funeral. From there it follows a fight over where the memorial could even stand, as Marine veterans sued to keep it off Arlington Ridge, near the Iwo Jima flag-raising memorial, and Senator John Warner brokered a compromise site instead. Stand between the spires and you're facing both the Pentagon and Arlington National Cemetery at once.
This audio guide was created using AI.