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World War II Memorial, Washington, D.C.
(Click picture for a larger version) Located near the center of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the new World War II Memorial is an inspirational monument to the men and women of America’s Greatest Generation who fought and won the war. The anchor points of the memorial’s design are two large pedestals at either end that represent the struggles in the Atlantic and Pacific regions. Smaller pedestals surround the entire memorial site and represent each American state and territory. The focal point of the memorial is a pair of impressive fountains that continually stream water into the air. The monument’s flat surfaces are covered with bas-relief images that illustrate the fighting and activities on the homefront. An especially poignant touch is the “Freedom Wall” that contains 400 gold stars that represent the more than 400,000 Americans who gave their lives in the war. On July 17, 2004, it was my great pleasure to tour the World War II Memorial with my father, Alvin F. Doubler, to whom I dedicated Closing With the Enemy. Originally from Illinois, he enlisted in the U.S. Army’s 61st Coast Artillery Regiment in October 1940. Only two months after Pearl Harbor, his unit deployed overseas, first to Iceland to defend U.S. airfields there and then to Great Britain to prepare for the invasion of Europe. While in Iceland, the 61st became the first U.S. Army anti-aircraft outfit to down a German aircraft in the European Theater. In England, parts of the 61st Coast Artillery were reorganized as the 634th Anti-Aircraft Artillery (AAA) Automatic Weapons Battalion and armed with the twin 40-mm. Bofors gun and quad 50-cal. machine guns mounted on half-tracks. My father was an aerial observer and a radio-telephone operator in one of the battalion’s firing batteries. He entered the European continent over Utah Beach in June 1944 only a few days after D-Day and saw action at St. Lo and all across France. Just before the battle of the Bulge in December 1944, the 634th AAA Battalion was assigned to support the 106th Infantry Division in a quiet sector of the Ardennes. My father witnessed that division being overrun by the German Army in the opening days of the Bulge, and he continued to fight around St. Vith as an infantryman. For its role in the stubborn defense of St. Vith, the 634th received the Presidential Unit Citation. In the spring of 1945, he crossed the Ludendorff Bridge over the Rhine River and fought within the Remagen bridgehead. From a small foxhole on the far side of the Rhine, my father observed the 291st Engineer Battalion construct a pontoon bridge across the river while under heavy fire, one of the greatest tactical actions in the entire history of the U.S. Army. By the time the war ended, my father had been overseas for forty-five months and had amassed a staggering 122 points for his military service. After the war, he moved to Tennessee, married my mother, Mary Macon Doubler, and raised a large family. To this day, he remains extremely proud of his service in World War II. My father, like most other veterans, loved the World War II Memorial and thought that the monument’s dignified atmosphere was an appropriate place for visitors to come and think about the experiences of the Greatest Generation and to reflect upon the important events in their own lives. Some critics have panned the World War II Memorial. Don’t believe them; it is a grand, timeless tribute to World War II’s participants and should be high on your list of things to see when you visit Washington, D.C.
Alvin F. Doubler at the World War II Memorial (Click picture for a larger version)
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