Field Trip: Walking The National Mall Through Service, Sacrifice, And Civic Duty

A wall of names can change how you see yourself—and your country. Walking the National Mall with our guide Jeremy Goldstein, we explore how the World War I, World War II, Korean War, and Vietnam Veterans memorials turn stone, water, and bronze into living memory. Each site carries its own voice: Korea’s haunted patrol, WWI’s powerful relief, WWII’s stars and fountains, and the Vietnam Wall’s reflective ledger of loss. Together, they invite pride in service and a sober accounting of cost, holding space for grief, gratitude, and collective healing.

We share stories that ground the monuments in human experience: veterans who return to volunteer, guides who greet friends on the wall each morning, and families searching for names to etch and carry home. Jeremy unpacks why Maya Lin’s design remains so resonant—your reflection interlaced with names, the depth of the wall rising with the toll of weeks, and the nearby statues that personify service. We trace the civic values embedded in these places—service, engagement, and a shared commitment to ideals rooted in the Constitution—and consider how local memorials connect hometowns to the nation’s front yard.

Looking ahead, we highlight new memorials on the horizon, including Desert Storm/Desert Shield and efforts around the Global War on Terror, and we point to accessible digital tools for classrooms and families through the National Mall Gateway. Whether you’ve walked these paths or only seen photos, this conversation offers a clear way to experience the Mall as a civic classroom: honor the fallen, support the living, and turn remembrance into action.

If this resonated with you, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review telling us which memorial moved you most. Your stories keep the memory alive.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:47

Welcome back to another field trip Friday. I again I keep saying I'm so excited, but I am. If I could bounce up and down and skip around, I would. And it's kind of hard to do that when you're recording a podcast. We have our wonderful tour guide back with us, Jeremy Goldstein from the Trust for the National Mall. And today we're taking a tour called the Military Service and Veterans Tour. And I think that people are familiar with, you know, the Vietnam wall, the World War II memorials, the Korean War memorials. But today we're really just going to kind of talk about this, really looking at service, remembrance, and kind of collective healing. So, Jeremy, welcome back. When we're looking at this tour specifically, I think it always touches my heart. And I've shared in a previous episode that both my grandfathers were Korean War veterans. My family has a long history of military service, but it's always so wonderful to see veterans honoring their brothers, their sisters, whether it is in a conflict that they fought in, or they are just honoring people there. So how does each memorial approach the idea of remembrance differently?

How Memorials Shape Remembrance

SPEAKER_01 2:05

Yeah, again, I appreciate being being here for this conversation. As always, I love talking about them all. I I think the idea of remembrance gets sort of packaged in several different ways. And to use that term lightly, it's not about packaging, right? You know, each one of these memorials, the World War I, the World War II, the Korean, and the Vietnam, they all have uh, you know, different approaches to the somber reverence to conflict and war. You know, there's there's always an underlying tone in any kind of memorial to a conflict or a war that there's this um underlying sort of mourning as cell. You know, people, people's lives were lost, folks made the ultimate sacrifice. In addition, you know, war's political aspect or or peace was, you know, it is often represented there. One of the things that I find interesting about all these memorials is the use of names of individuals. So the Vietnam War Memorial is, you know, a list of all the people who are lost from the American side, and the Korean has added names as well. You don't have those on the World War II and the World War I, although they do on Memorial Day read the names of those who were lost at the World War II. These long lists of names really give people an impact and an understanding. In addition, this remembrance becomes very individualized. There are people who recognize names on there. Personally, the Vietnam Memorial is a place that's a full circle for me, just as kind of a sidebar. My first job out of graduate school, I worked for USA Stillhai, the Central Identification Lab in Hawaii. I was an archaeologist before I was a school teacher. And I recovered the remains of MIA soldiers to bring back for identifications for final internment. And some of those names I recognize from the cases that I worked on in Southeast Asia. So I, you know, I feel that individual weight of these places. And in addition, the design lends to that too. You know, there's there's a conscious design. Um, the World War II has these water features, the Gold Star Wall, the, you know, the Korean has these larger than life size statues and engravings of the images. And the World War I has this new relief that if you have the opportunity, it's a little bit off the beaten path, but it's part of the mall's collection. Go see the relief because it's a soldier story, and it is it's very powerful, especially at sunset. And then, of course, the Vietnam Memorial as being sort of a, you know, digging out of the earth or kind of a large slice out of the plaza there next to the Lincoln. So the remembrance is different in design, but they all kind of go to that root of the somber reverence for the space for those who sacrificed and for those who came home as well as a space for that.

The Power Of The Vietnam Wall

SPEAKER_00 4:48

So you bring up the Vietnam Memorial. What makes that memorial's design so powerful?

SPEAKER_01 4:54

Well, the 1982 dedication, I can remember when I was 12 years old, I'm dating myself. I can remember the cover of Newsweek talking about the architect who was selected. That's Maya Lin, or the designer who was selected. Very young, you know, architectural student at the time. She turns out to be one of the larger forces in memorial design later on in her career, with a long, prolific career of really great public memorials. This one was controversial at the time because it was also, you know, the 80s were still a tail end of the closure for the war. We had a whole generation of folks coming back. So there were a lot of emotions going on and a lot of opinions about how it should be represented. You know, every memorial needs to be enacted by an act of Congress and then supported by a commission and a friends group as well. The Vietnam Memorial has a very strong friends group because there's a full generation of veterans who are still around. We train the volunteers at the uh at the memorials and the monuments on the mall. And one of the strongest core of volunteers with many veterans is very is uh staffed uh at the Vietnam Memorial. That design is powerful because uh of a couple of things. And I am not an architect and I'm not a memorial designer, but when I step up to that wall and I see my reflection in there in the names, and I see all the space that's dedicated to it, you're seeing yourself reflected as an individual, and you're also seeing these names as the depth of the memorial increases, these names increase by weeks of the more of the war, showing the human toll. It is it is a very powerful space. In addition, there is the um soldiers' memorial, there's uh uh three soldiers' statue and the Vietnam Women's Memorial, which is uh both were later additions, but these are personifications of the individuals who were in Vietnam. So we see ourselves, we see the story of the veterans, and we also see the lives lost. And I think that's very powerful in the design.

Pride, Reflection, And Service

SPEAKER_00 6:52

It is. I remember seeing it for the first time and didn't feel the full power of it until I was kind of in the middle of the memorial, and I could look to either side and kind of see that design and see all of these names. And you're right, the reflection of yourself is so incredibly powerful. I'm getting choked up even thinking about it because, you know, one of the things is war and conflict is hard. So, how can we commemorate and foster both pride and reflection in these memorials?

SPEAKER_01 7:30

Well, I, you know, I never had the honor of serving, but I worked for the Department of Defense. And one thing that I always told people is that regardless of how Americans feel about their military, these are individuals who signed up for something that, you know, would it could possibly end in the ultimate sacrifice, in the ending of their lives. So a lot of people don't think about that when they think of people who decide to serve or enlist or who join the military, who trained in the military or who are drafted. These are individuals who have this is a this isn't just a job, this is a serious life choice. So I think we start with that. And there's pride in that decision, in that that person has made that choice, the individual pride that they feel in representing one's country, representing the ideas of that country, regardless of the outcome, regardless of the era of serving, that's really the big piece. For reflection, I think folks who don't serve, who haven't served, I think people internationally, I think it's always good to meditate on and to reflect on the what happens when dialogue breaks down and what happens when war occurs or conflict occurs and how do we represent it. These are these memorials and monuments are narratives. And these narratives are very important to not only the American people, but to humanity, to talk about what the, you know, what the the big the ultimate cost is for individuals who who engage in these conflicts and also the toll it has on later generations and the people who come home from those conflicts.

Civic Values On The Mall

SPEAKER_00 9:03

And I'm so glad you bring that up because again, I talked about my grandfathers, you know, being Korean War veterans. Neither of them talked about it because Korea was kind of the forgotten war. And, you know, the more we kind of dig into our family history. I had a great uncle who died at the Battle of Argonne Forest in World War I. He was a Danish citizen. You know, his our family moved to America and he was killed. And that's when I learned more about Gold Star families and kind of the Gold Star tour. Like there's so many really incredible things that, you know, bring me a lot of pride. But again, I'm like you. I did not sign up for service. My family has a long history. But then I feel like it is my responsibility to teach and to kind of uphold those civic values, you know, that members of our military, the, you know, the men and women who have signed up for this, and even the ones who didn't sign up, you know, a lot of them were drafted. It still is, you know, fighting for a country and fighting for ideals. So when we're talking about civic values, what civic values are kind of embedded in these memorials?

SPEAKER_01 10:13

Well, I I I love that you mentioned ideals because those ideals are directly linked to our Constitution and that big agreement we all have here in the United States as that contract to be an American. People who who defend that in the in the military are signing up to defend those ideals, defend the uh the Constitution. I know that sounds like kind of a quote somewhere, but if I think about it, the the key civic values are service and engagement. Um, and civic engagement through service is really something that I love to impart to my students, and whether it's something that they do for their fellow American on a level that's not military, but the fact that we're all here together and we we are here to support each other, I think that's an embedded value, is that these are individuals who are serving others, who are making sacrifices. And that's, you know, that's something that I feel every Veterans Day and every Memorial Day. One I'm I'm a big fan, and you're an Arizona person, so I'm a big fan of Senator John McCain. I I was fortunate enough to work at a center that that was named after him at a school, at his high school. But I always think of the quote and I paraphrase, but John McCain always talked about engaging with or fighting for causes that are larger than yourself. And to me, that's what the mall feels like a place that's larger within oneself. And then in addition to that, that packet of civic values that the mall and the front yard represents, that's something bigger than yourself. In the I I believe in one of the first two episodes, I talked about feeling small in front of history. That's that similar feeling of things bigger than yourself, people who who have been engaged in large, um, you know, large events and large movements in our throughout our history, they're engaged in something that it's gigantic. It's written down, it's been interpretive, there's a narrative there.

Veterans Who Continue To Serve

SPEAKER_00 12:07

It is. And I'm so glad you bring up Senator McCain. You know, he is very much loved here in Arizona. And then we also have people like Pat Tillman, who left his NFL career. And I think that, you know, when you talk about locally, right? Because I think sometimes people think like, oh, DC, that's so far away. But a lot of times there are memorials in your local, in your cities and in your states. And then when you are able to come and do this military service and veterans tour, you can bring those, you know, remembrances and those thoughts of the people locally. We have neighbors who are veterans, right? I think that, you know, we all know someone who has served in the military, you know, we know families who have lost people. And so this, you know, having this pride in these men and women, but also being able to reflect and, you know, see what you can do as a citizen if you are not in the military is is so important. And I know I've said this in another episode, but I feel like it bears repeating, the Korean War monuments to me is so powerful because of the looks on those men's faces. And it it reminds me that, you know, I can date myself too. I'm 45, but it reminds me that a lot of these, you know, men and women that went in were kids, really, in the scope of things. And so just having that remembrance and having that time. And I love that there are veterans that are working and talking to people, and you know, especially on the Vietnam Wall, helping people find names and you know, create what is it called, the etching of the names. And it's just, it's so powerful and it's so, you know, sombering. And I think as we go into America 250, that is one of the things I know I personally want to carry in is an understanding of military service, of what our veterans have done and continue to do for our communities and that real power of civic engagement. So I'm so I'm always so happy to go to the mall and have that time. It just is so powerful. I do want to ask, are there any other memorials? And I know that we have not prepped this, but are there any other memorials that are coming up? Because you talked about it takes an act of Congress. There has to be friends of, because I know somebody is listening going, well, what about, you know, this war? What about this war? Are there any kind of on the horizon?

New And Lesser-Known Memorials

Digital Tours And Teacher Resources

SPEAKER_01 14:44

Yes, there are. And it's a good question. Um, before I answer that, I I do want to say something interesting to me is that you you mentioned the veterans who work on the mall. There, there's a large portion of veterans and veterans' families who volunteer on the national mall. We we train and onboard the national mall with the Park Service Rangers and onboard volunteers. And there is a very large contingent of people who continue to serve, who are in families of veterans, and that is significant. I think that that that is that speaks volumes for for folks. I I shadowed one of the veteran guides at the Vietnam Memorial and very powerful moment. He said, you know, every morning I walk down this memorial and I say hello to my friends. And that, you know, that to me is the one of the the more significant, deep experiences that that these memorials represent. On tap for upcoming memorials, we we have the uh Desert Storm Desert Shield Memorial, which is sort of being prepared and and underway. In addition, there is the um there's an effort with the National War on Terror, the war on terror as well. So these are these are two others, because that was a long um war that had many inflection points. So these are two that that are up. And then there's one other one that a lot of people don't realize is on there. It's perhaps one of the most popular places to get married on the mall, but it's um a large domed, pillared dome, and it is the World War I memorial for the city of DC. And those are people who sacrificed their lives from DC. That was the first World War I memorial, and then later on, Pershing, the Pershing Memorial became the plaza there was became the World War I memorial near the White House. So these memorials, and then there are other smaller ones for specific divisions and and pieces there. Next to the World War II, there is an FDR prayer memorial, which I think is significant as well. So these are all things to think about. If you're not going in person on the mall, I would I would suggest taking this tour with our 360s on the National Mall Gateway, gateway.nationalmall.org. That's my final plug there.

Closing Thanks And Next Tour

SPEAKER_00 16:41

Yes. No, and that is in, it'll be in all of the show notes. And teachers, especially, you know, if as you get close to Memorial Day or Veterans Day, I think that this is a great tour to take with your kids if you're in a classroom. And I love that you can take that on the website and have kids kind of look at this because not everybody can make it to DC, but I love that the national mall is still accessible to the masses through the website. So, Jeremy, thank you so much. I am more than stoked to go on more field trip tours with you.

SPEAKER_01 17:17

Thank you. Um, and I I love talking about the mall, so I'm really looking forward to our next episode.

SPEAKER_00 17:22

Yay.