Kentucky Vietnam War Memorial

This morning Caly was talking about statues, and being so close to the fourth of July, the topic shifted to war memorials. Kentucky has one of the most beautiful and sad memorials I've ever heard about and I thought I'd like to share it with you guys, just because.

It's in Frankfort, KY, which is the state capitol. And it's basically a big granite floor with names etched in it, the name of every Kentucky soldier who died in Vietnam or who went missing in action. That's 1,069 names. They are arranged in what at first glance seems a random pattern. And there is a 14 foot tall structure in the middle of the floor. Then you realize it's a big sundial. And the shadow of the dial does more than tell time. It points to the name of each soldier on the anniversary of his death. Except for the 23 MIA/POW's. Their names are behind the pointer, where the shadow will never fall.

That's a really cool way to memorialize them!

That is cool! If I ever travel that way, that is something so worth checking out!

That is cool!

That is so cool! Thanks for sharing it with us.

Oh wow.. that is amazing.


I have touched the wall in washington. I swear, when you touch it you get chills and then a warm totally loved feeling. I have only ever felt that way a few other times. two were inLas Vegas 5 months after 9-11. The fence to the new york, new york. It has FD shirts from dept's around the US snd the world. plus messages. the other was when the water at the bellagio danced to God bless America by Lee Greenwood. Grown men were crying

It is such a hard place to go to, because it just about kills you if the shadow is pointing to someone's name. You know they died THAT day. And you walk around on it and try not to step on any of their names, but there are areas where it's thick with names and you almost can't avoid them. I cry like a baby when I go, so I've only gone two or three times. But families go and just like the one in Washington you can get rubbings of the names. I found more pics online. The first one is an example of the names, the second shows the only inscription other than the names.