Soaring Memorial

Arching skyward from an Arlington hilltop, the new US Air Force Memorial (Air Force Memorial Dr. and Columbia Pike), designed by James Ingo Freed, works wonders for Washington’s skyline. The three steel spires rise over the Pentagon and downtown DC in a composed explosion evoking both the science and the mystery of flight. Less mind-blowing is the honor-guard sculpture at the monument’s base, but the bronze figures do ground the towering beams in the experience of airmen, whom the monument was built to memorialize.