Does Anyone Know Why The World War II Memorial Took So Long To Build?

[THUNDER HANDS]

Both my grandfathers, who served in WWII and were wounded, passed away a few years before the memorial opened.

I don't understand why, if the war ended in the 40's - that it took 60 years to complete it.

Vietnam veterans can go see their memorial. Korean veterans can.

But my grandfather's, who lived to be 72 and 78, respectively, could not. And that pisses me off when I think about it.

What exactly was the holdup?

[2Design]

1. protests and criticisms

[THUNDER HANDS]

2. protests?

why would anyone protest the building of a world war II memorial?

[GOPisEvil]

6. Not that there shouldn't be one, but the location.

A lot of people, me included, are not happy with the placement on the National Mall. I liked the fact that the mall was relatively unobstructed from the Lincoln Memorial to the Capitol.

I'd have preferred the memorial out by the FDR monument. But that's me.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

7. Here's who protested the site and the design

http://savethemall.org

I also joined this fight as an architect.
The design is horrible and the siting worse.
We wanted a memorial, just not on the mall and not as an American version of an Albert Speer design.

[cleofus1]

3. WWII vets...

Were honored and given parades and the best GI bill in the history of the Universe. They participated in an unprecedented rise of the American middle class and had countless local memorials dedicated to them.
I believe the big argument about the memorial was not whether or not it should be done...but the location.

[LynneSin]

4. There were issues on the location

because it disrupted the flow of the National Mall. But ultimately it got built.

My grandfather served in the South Pacific and never thought he was being left out when they were building the Vietnam & Korean Memorials.

[ScreamingMeemie]

5. They did not know where to put it.

Sad, isn't it? When we were in D.C. two years ago we went on a bus tour to Arlington. The tour guide was a WWII vet (and an excellent guide as well), and he told us there was a lot of rumbling about the proposed site and how it would break up the view from Washington Monument to Lincoln Memorial. :hi: