THE BUILDING PROCESS

Shortly after the completion of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, talk began to create a memorial honoring Korean War veterans. The American Battle Monument Commission was authorized by Congress to create a memorial to honor the men and women who served during the Korean War. President Ronald Reagan appointed the Korean War Veterans Memorial Advisory Board. In September of 1988 the commission met and approved a site for the memorial. The location for the new memorial was southwest of the Lincoln memorial in an area known as Ash Woods.

The commission held a design competition with the winning design submitted by a team of architects from State College, Pennsylvania. The State College design was shown to the Fine Arts Commission (FAC) in July of 1989. The FAC felt there was a need to study the design in more detail. The Korean War Veterans Advisory Board hired the architectural firm of Cooper - Lechy Associates to deal with the concerns of the FAC. A revised design by Cooper - Lechy was shown to the FAC in December of 1990. The FAC was surprised at the changes. Debate over the differences in the two designs continued for the next couple of years. In the end the Cooper - Lechy design would receive full approval.

The ground breaking took place iin November of 1993. A World War II veteran, Frank Gaylord, was chosen as the sculptor and Louis Nelson was selected to create a wall of etched faces. On the 42nd anniversary of the armistice, July 27, 1995, President Bill Clinton and President Kim Young Sam of the Republic of South Korea dedicated the Korean War Veterans Memorial.