then Add to Home Screen.
The Global War on Terrorism Memorial Foundation last week unveiled the first renderings of the future memorial on the National Mall that will honor those who served in the conflict that began in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The memorial’s design is the culmination of eight years of input from 20,000 Americans, including veterans from every service, according to a foundation release.
It is organized around a single architectural gesture: “the embrace,” a vegetated arch of reclaimed steel rising from the earth and returning to the ground.
“This design was shaped by history and held sacred from the beginning — forged by sacrifice and informed by the voices of warriors and their families,” said Michael “Rod” Rodriguez, the president and CEO of the foundation and a retired Army Green Beret.
“Throughout history, societies have built sacred places to welcome their warriors home, places where a grateful people can say, ‘We see you. We honor you. You are not forgotten.’” he said. “The GWOT generations deserve that same enduring tribute. Today, we take one step closer to welcoming them home.”
The initial design almost immediately took significant criticism.
“Thousands of heroic Americans sacrificed everything in service to our nation during the Global War on Terror,” wrote Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee on X. “I served in Afghanistan. These were real people with real stories. They deserve to be honored with dignity, not disconnected abstract art.”
Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis, a retired Navy SEAL and member of the House Armed Services Committee, labeled the concept as an “abomination” and a “Jazz Hands monument to our fallen brothers and sisters.”
He said there is “bipartisan/bicameral” support in Congress to stop the design.
The criticism amplified voices already active on social media. Many GWOT veterans said the design does not sufficiently honor the 7,054 service members killed in the conflict. Many called for the names of the fallen, like the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall.
The names of the more 800 National Guardsmen who made the ultimate sacrifice in the GWOT do appear in the Memorial Wall in the National Guard Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial also was widely criticized after its initial renderings were unveiled.
Foundation officials plan to meet over the coming months with various city planning commissions to finalize design approval, according to the foundation’s proposed timeline.
With approval, the foundation is aiming for a 2027 groundbreaking and a project completion in late 2028.
—By John Goheen
