WWII memorial nears completion, dedication

WASHINGTON, April 19 (UPI) -- Workers are placing the final touches on the National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., USA Today reported Monday.

The memorial is expected to be opened this month and dedicated May 29, said Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, credited with launching the idea 17 years ago and seeing it to fruition.

The granite and bronze memorial, which cost nearly $200 million, is slightly longer than a football field and has a sunken plaza that contains a pool and fountains.

It is lined by 56 columns, one for each U.S. state and territory in 1945. Two arches, 43 feet high representing the Atlantic and Pacific theaters, flank the memorial. Its far wall bears a field of 4,000 gold stars, one for every 100 Americans killed in a war that some 16 million U.S. citizens fought in.

The memorial is on the National Mall, between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial -- "the most precious civic real estate in America," according to Nicolaus Mills, author of a book about the memorial due out next month.