American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial
It's a thing of beauty designed to honor an ugly fact: the wounds of war. The very name of Washington's newest monument – the American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial - makes the point.
The monument to service members who have been wounded in battle, which has been 14 years in the making, has its dedication ceremony on Sunday, Oct. 5, 2014.
Artist's Conception
A bill approving the memorial was passed by Congress in October 2000 and signed into law by President Bill Clinton.
The effort to construct the memorial was led by the Disabled Veterans' Life Memorial Foundation. The entire project cost $81 million, all of it from private donations.
Rendering
The memorial, designed by architect Michael Vergason, features a star-shaped reflecting pool with a ceremonial flame, bronze sculptures, and glass panels with photographs and inscriptions that give testimony to the experience of wounded veterans.
Model
Also part of the design is a grove of trees.
Construction
Construction of the memorial in Washington, D.C.
Construction
The memorial commands an impressive two-acre site between Washington Avenue, C Street, and Second Street -- within full view of the United States Capitol.
"When we went through interviews and discussions with disabled veterans, we heard time and time again they want to see the Capitol," Vergason told CBS News' David Martin. "And we want the Capitol to see us, because what goes on in Capitol Hill has so much to do with the daily lives of veterans."
Construction
A view during construction of the star-shaped centerpiece of the American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial, August 20, 2014 in Washington, D.C.
Construction
Arthur Wilson (right), President of the Disabled Veterans' Life Memorial Foundation, and Memorial CEO Rick Fenstermacher inspect a glass etching of soldiers at the unfinished memorial, August 20, 2014 in Washington, D.C.
Construction
Workmen complete the American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial.
Images of War
Project director Barry Owenby told CBS News' David Martin that the memorial is for disabled veterans of all wars, of whom an estimated three million are alive today.
The memorial features stories of service members who suffered debilitating wounds, and the lives they built after coming home.
"It doesn't end with the war; they live with it forever," Owenby said. "They have a trauma of injury, a healing process, and then their rediscovery of purpose. So that's the story that we're trying to tell here."
Testimonials
Joe Bacani was shot through the pelvis by a sniper in Iraq in 2007. A photograph of Bacani in a wheelchair, taken at his Purple Heart ceremony at Walter Reed Hospital, is now part of the monument.
He told David Martin that he was humbled to have his story displayed alongside those of more famous figures, such as Senator Bob Dole."I've always seen myself as just a normal, average Joe," he said - an "average Joe" who is now attending Columbia University. "After I was wounded, I saw that as a second chance," he said of his Ivy League education, "and I wanted to make the most out of it."
Testimonials
There are 18 quotations etched in glass, chosen by a panel which did not know the authors' names.
Architect Michael Vergason said, "They are both reflective and transparent, that you see yourself when you're reading these quotes. They're first-person quotes of disabled veterans and caregivers that have a very personal and, I think, moving emotive value."
Inscriptions
Hartung Glass Industries, a veteran-owned Seattle company, cut, polished, tempered and laminated the oversize glass panels. The combined weight of each 48 x 106-inch panel (comprising five layers of glass and four layers of laminate) is approximately 1,800 pounds.
Moon Shadow Glass, of Sandy, Ore., then etched designs (images and words) into the glass panels, which were then sent to Glass Strategies in Portland, Ore., where they were sealed.
Inscriptions
Roughly 600 quotes from veterans were collected (from veterans and from those who have cared for them), which were then winnowed down to 80. "I think the foundation did the hardest piece of work and that was getting it down to 18 quotes, because there are so many beautiful and emotive ones," said the architect Michael Vergason.
"They stretch over the full history of the republic time-wise, span the different conflicts and different divisions. They tend to present a kind of mosaic composition of the range of voices that speak very personally to the process of injury and recovery, healing and really re-purposing of life."
Coming Home
Some images need no words.
Bronze
A team led by sculptor Larry Kirkland, of Walla Walla, Wash., crafted four large bronze silhouette sculptures, created through lost-wax casting.
The four sculptures each symbolizes four elements of a wounded veteran's experience: call to duty and pride in service; trauma of injury; healing; and renewal of purpose.
Bronze
Vergason said the building materials used - stone and glass - reflect both the strength and the vulnerability of wounded veterans.
Ginkos
Gingko trees - a species that was all but wiped out in America but is now making a comeback – are planted throughout the memorial. "They are in a sense survivors, reflective of the disabled veterans," Vergason told CBS News.
Survivors with an exquisite sense of timing: "During early November, they turn a beautiful golden yellow, and of course that is a beautiful coincidence with the arrival and celebration of Veterans' Day," he said.
Plaza
A view of the complete memorial.
Ceremonial Flame
A ceremonial flame burns within the reflecting pool.
Monument
David Martin asked Vergason, "Your job was to take a melancholy and distressing sight and turn it into something of beauty. How do you do that?"
"Well, it's a great question, and do we do it? I hope we do it. Certainly it was part of the intent, that the experience of this place is uplifting -- of honoring, of educating and of connecting."
Aerial View
An aerial view of the memorial prior to the dedication ceremony.
Dedication
President Barack Obama shakes hands with American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial spokesman actor Gary Sinise during the dedication of the American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial on October 5, 2014 in Washington, D.C.
Mr. Obama marked the opening of the American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial, which honors disabled veterans both living and deceased from conflicts throughout the nation's history.
Dedication
Attendees, including veterans, stand during the dedication of the American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial on October 5, 2014 in Washington, D.C.
President Obama said that disabled U.S. veterans offer Americans daily examples of the nation's character and perseverance, "a country that never quits."
Honoring Sacrifice
Military veterans stand and are applauded during the dedication of the American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial, near the U.S. Capitol, in Washington, D.C., October 5, 2014.
Honoring Sacrifice
U.S. President Barack Obama joins Interior Secretary Sally Jewel, Chairperson Lois Pope and National Parks Superintendent Robert Vogel at the dedication of the American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial in Washington, D.C., October 5, 2014.
Honoring Sacrifice
Hundreds of guests and veterans attend the dedication of the American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial, near the U.S. Capitol, in Washington, D.C., October 5, 2014.
Monument
For more info:
American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial, Washington, D.C.; Dedication ceremony invitation video Oct. 5, 2014
Follow the Disabled Vet Memorial on Twitter (@AVDLM) and Facebook
By CBSNews.com senior producer David Morgan