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États-Unis · Magazines éco · Fortune

Families kept lining up at a military monument on the National Mall, so it stayed for Veterans Day

Publié par Fortune · États-Unis il y a 1 h
The National Military Monument at night.
The National Military Monument at night. · Fortune

Résumé détaillé

USAA’s tribute has roughly 41 million searchable names. Visitor demand helped extend its stay from August through Veterans Day.

If you visited the Lincoln Memorial this summer or fall, you likely came across a different kind of memorial that normally isn’t there. This year, to celebrate the country’s 250th anniversary, the insurance and banking company USAA, which serves military members, veterans, and their families, built two giant American flags displaying the names of over 41 million military service members.

Dubbed the National Military Monument, the installation was supposed to last less than a month, but the company says families just kept coming—and so it’s sticking around for Veterans Day after the company sought an extension to keep up with the overwhelming number of visitors.

And it turns out that some of the people lining up at the Lincoln Memorial Plaza aren’t there for ol’ Honest Abe. They’ve come for the pair of double-sided digital displays, each about 18 feet tall and over 50 feet wide. Up close, names of service members scroll across the screens by era. From afar, the displays resemble American flags waving in the wind. George Washington’s name is listed first, the Unknown Soldier, last.

USAA, which funded the monument after becoming an official America 250 partner earlier this year, declined to disclose the total cost. The work went beyond building the digital displays: planning, researching, and compiling names, and construction took several months, Bove said. Visitors can search for a relative or even themselves at interactive kiosks, and USAA staff are available on-site to help bring up individual names on the monument’s screens.

“It’s very uplifting to be able to stand here and to know that their sacrifice was not in vain,” said a visitor in a USAA video announcing the monument.

The goal is to honor everyone who has served since the Revolutionary War: Veterans who came home, those killed in war, and military personnel who are still serving today.

On weekends, the wait has sometimes topped three hours, USAA’s lead communications director Christian Bove told Fortune.

Some…

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