National Japanese American Memorial

by Keith Stanley (copyright 2003)

   Washington, DC, is a place of many monuments, memorials, and statues, some of them quite significant, even if not well-known.  One fitting that description is the Japanese American Memorial, dedicated on November 9, 2000, to Japanese Americans who fought for the United States during World War II and also to the more than 100,000 Japanese Americans confined to prison camps during that war.  It seems fittingly fair and proper to remember the injustice that can be wrought by prejudice at this time when Arab and Islamic Americans (and others) are coming under special scrutiny.  The Memorial is located just north of the U.S. Capitol on a triangular plot bounded by Louisiana Avenue, New Jersey Avenue and D Street NW.  The following five pictures were taken early April, 2003, when cherry blossoms were in bloom.