Medal of Honor Memorial: True heroes recognized
Published: Jun 22, 2009
If you’re planning an evening stroll along the White River Canal Walk just west of downtown Indianapolis, make sure it’s at dusk. On the north section of downtown’s Central Canal in White River State Park, you'll hear personal accounts of those who earned the nation’s highest award for military valor.
The Congressional Medal of Honor Memorial, the first memorial in the United States to these recipients, is set along the canal adjacent to Military Park — a park that was once a Civil War encampment and training field and the site of the first Indiana State Fair.
The memorial was dedicated on May 29, 1999, the last Memorial Day weekend of the 20th century. At the time of the dedication, 15,000 people — among them, 95 of the then-living 156 Congressional Medal of Honor recipients — attended the ceremony. Another 10 million people were said to have watched via television coverage worldwide.
The one-acre memorial represents 15 different conflicts, ranging from the Civil War through the current Iraq and Afghanistan wars. A total of 27 curved glass walls, each between 7 and 10 feet tall, now have a total of 3,447 names inscribed on them — 19 double recipients and 96 of whom, at last count, are still alive. One woman is included: Mary Edwards Walker, a spy for the Union, an abolitionist, a tireless advocate for women's rights and the Temperance Movement, a pioneer in sensible dress for women, an inventor, a U.S. Army surgeon during the Civil War, and the first female surgeon in the U.S. Army
Each day at dusk, the memorial's sound system plays recorded stories of medal winners or of the conflicts in which they fought — a few recorded by the surviving honorees themselves. A touch screen TV provides interactive information on the medal, as well as on the Congressional Medal of Honor Society.
There’s no admission fee — the memorial is an open park along the canal. The park and memorial are always open. Parking is available at garages east of West Street and at the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art and the IMAX Theatre.
- by Jim Brown , Indianapolis Reporter for HelloMetro
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