Object Details
- Notes
- Save Outdoor Sculpture, Iowa survey, 1996.
- Image on file.
- (Incised on plaque at entrance:) A MESSAGE OF GRATITUDE/TO EVERY VETERAN/WE PROUDLY DEDICATE THIS MEMORIAL TO/EVERY MAN, WOMAN AND CHILD WHO/UNSELFISHLY GAVE THEIR LIVES, THEIR TIME/AND THEIR LOVED ONES SO EACH OF US/COULD LIVE PEACEFULLY SECURE IN THE/KNOWLEDGE THAT OUR UNCOMPROMISED/FREEDOM WAS BEING PRESERVED
- The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.
- Summary
- Sculpture consists of a series of markers which commemorate the American armed forces and the wars and conflicts in which they served. Rectangular markers with diagonal surfaces at the tops are installed in a circle around a flagpole. These recognize each branch of the military with their foundation dates and seals. Benches and square markers with similar diagonal tops encircle the military markers. The square markers commemorate wars in America's history, beginning with the Revolutionary War, up through the Persian Gulf War. Each marker has engraved images of keys events and personages related to the respective war or military conflict. The Revolutionary War marker, for example, depicts George Washington and Betsy Ross. The Civil War marker depicts, among others, Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, and Robert E. Lee. Theodore Roosevelt is seen in the Spanish-American War panel. Iowans depicted on the markers include Annie Wittenmeyer, who established Iowa Veterans Childrens Orphans Home after the Civil War, and Ed Gaudet, who served in Vietnam. The ship the USS Juneau, featured on the World War II in the Pacific panel, was the home ship of the five Sullivan Brothers of Waterloo, Iowa. The Sullivans were all killed when the Juneau was lost during one the Pacific campaigns. This loss prompted a law forbidding family members to serve in the same combat unit without written release.
- Data Source
- Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museums
- sculptor
- Seger, Fred
- Miller, Randy
- fabricator
- Miller Brothers Monuments
- Subject
- Washington, George
- Ross, Betsy
- Chase, Anna
- Grant, Ulysses S
- Lee, Robert E
- Lincoln, Abraham
- Wittenmeyer, Annie
- Roosevelt, Theodore
- Doolittle, Jimmy
- Seiberling, Florence
- Gaudet, Ed
- Roth, Scott
- Swartzkopf, Norman
- Date
- Dedicated Sept. 18, 1994
- Medium
- Sculpture: marble; Base: granite and concrete
- Type
- Sculptures-Outdoor Sculpture
- Sculptures-Bench
- Sculptures
