About 10 minutes from my house in Anthem Arizona, is one of the most unique and brilliant memorials I’ve ever seen. Located in the Anthem Community Park in Anthem AZ, this pillar of pride provides a place for veterans, family and friends to converge once a year because of its unique construction.
For those that don’t know Veterans day is celebrated to commemorate the end of WWI that ended on November 11th, 1918 at 11.11am.
The memorial has five pillars and their significance combines all five branches of the service to bring together the Department of Defense seal.
- The five pillars represent all 5 branches of the military symbolizing unity and loyalty.
- They are staggered in size with their appropriate military seal placements on each pillar based upon the DoD prescribed precedence.
- At precisely 11.11am each veterans day (November 11) the suns rays pass through each seal at the perfect angle to form a perfect solar spotlight which illuminates the seal on the ground in front of the monument.
I had the honor of attending the ceremony yesterday to pay my respects to my fellow veterans that came before me and for those that paid the ultimate sacrifice. I’m not going to deny it, when taps was played; there was something in the air that caused my eyes to water uncontrollably.
You can learn more “Engineering Behind the Memorial” or you can watch the Time-lapse of the iconic 11:11 monument.
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