The Global War on Terrorism Memorial Foundation (GWOTMF) announced a first-of-its-kind public input campaign titled, “Help Design History.” The campaign invites the public to share design insight for the National Global War on Terrorism Memorial, which will be built on a designated site on the National Mall.
The campaign will run for 22 days (Sept. 26 to Oct. 17), representing 22 years of America’s ongoing fight against terrorism. As part of this campaign, Americans have an opportunity to design history by providing their thoughts, inspirations and dreams for the Memorial that will honor those impacted by the Global War on Terrorism, including uniformed and non-uniformed military personnel, civilians, their families and everyday men and women who have sacrificed to protect our freedom. The campaign marks the first time Americans can provide design input for a memorial on the National Mall.
“The ‘Help Design History’ campaign reflects the foundation’s and my personal commitment to building the most comprehensive and inclusive war memorial in history,” said GWOTMF President and CEO Michael “Rod” Rodriguez. “It will help tell the entire story of how our nation has waged this multi-generational war and give a voice to all whom this incredibly complex conflict has impacted.
“We firmly believe that this approach, which has never been done before in designing a national war memorial, will reflect a diversity of experiences, service and sacrifice, thereby telling the story of the countless everyday Americans who stepped forward to serve us all.”
The Global War on Terrorism began as a response to the acts of 9/11. Spanning five continents, America’s longest modern-day war engages an unprecedented combination of uniformed and non-uniformed men and women serving their country. The announcement of the campaign coincides with the 22nd anniversary of CIA Operation Jawbreaker, the entry of “first-in” forces into Afghanistan on Sept. 26, 2001. The foundation honors and brings awareness to this influential day in American history, on which the CIA’s presence in Afghanistan just 15 days after the 9/11 attacks epitomized the country’s responsiveness and resilience.
The public input campaign continues the foundation’s resolve to give those with personal experiences with the GWOT a voice in the memorial’s design. The foundation has also established a Design Advisory Council (DAC), a body consisting of Gold Star family members, Veterans, active-duty service members and additional stakeholders to educate and advise lead architect Marlon Blackwell on the memorial.
“The process by which the final design is chosen is as important as the design itself,” said DAC co-chair Elliot Ackerman. “An essential part of that process is this public input campaign, reinforcing that this memorial isn’t only for Veterans, but for all Americans.”
“Our mission is to remind the American people of the price still being paid for freedom and to encourage them to express their thoughts on how the memorial can best pay homage to our Global War on Terrorism heroes,” said DAC co-chair and Gold Star Fellow Jennifer Ballou. “The Design Advisory Council is honored to also share our personal experiences with the Foundation design team.”
Interested members of the public can submit their views here.
Topics in this story
Link Disclaimer
This page includes links to other websites outside our control and jurisdiction. VA is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of non-VA Web sites. We encourage you to review the privacy policy or terms and conditions of those sites to fully understand what information is collected and how it is used.
Statement of Endorsement
Reference herein to any specific commercial products, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government, and shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes.
More Stories
Many Veterans love farming and beekeeping. Here are a variety of free opportunities for Veterans.
The sharing of any non-VA information does not constitute an […]
Each week, we receive job announcements from employers and employment websites. This post contains links to job listings for the week of April 29, 2024.
Did the US lose the Global War on Terrorism? We must ask: who won and who lost? On the one
hand, the US ruling class, the billionaires and state officials who do their bidding, certainly won the
war, filling their pockets with blood money. On the other hand, the American working class – along
with the masses of Iraqis and Afghans – lost the war; some with their lives, most with betrayal.
As a US citizen, I absolutely oppose this memorial as a bitter and oppressive reminder of the 20 plus years of forever wars waged by successive administrations without the full and informed consent of US citizens. The destruction and misery inflicted by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan went beyond a justified response to the September 11 attacks in the United States. Military expenditures have already taken up more than half of the national budget and trillions have been spent on the endless wars, for which we have no full or fair accounting.
As an American citizen, I absolutely oppose the building of this memorial, which is an oppressive and bitter reminder of over 20 years of endless wars waged by successive administrations which have embroiled the US into one war after another war, by manufacturing so-called public consent by censoring fair reportage of the wars and their destructive impact, the lies about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, withdrawal from Afghanistan which left behind over $7 billion worth of US-made weapons in the hands of the Taliban, and we will never get a full and fair accounting of the trillions that was spent.
The money could be better spent on affordable housing, education, healthcare and social services. Our public airports and other infrastructure are shabby and little has been done if any to increase national security in our homeland by securing sites which are vulnerable. If America is safer today, why did we extend lifetime Secret Service protection to former presidents. Meanwhile, 70 year old and 80 year olds find their social security benefits being yanked. Americans who are on disability (some of whom were formerly employed in physical labor) find their benefits being cut off and they have to file appeals and provide tons of paperwork to get them back (if they are lucky). Meanwhile, Congress has been providing a blank check for military expenditures. The memorial will be simply the final nail in the coffin of our democracy.
It would be good to include 9/11/2001 images (i.e.: the Towers, the Pentagon, Flight 93) to focus the reasons for America’s participation in the War on Terrorism.