World War II Memorials Around the World Part 1

There are hundreds of war memorials around the world. This two-part series focuses on 10 World War II memorials in different locations. If you haven’t read part 1, click here https://thelostranger.com/world-war-ii-memorials-around-the-world-part-1/.
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
While the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier or Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington, Virginia, is not solely dedicated to the heroes of World War II, it is one of the most popular war memorial in the world and especially in the United States.
The tomb is located atop a hill that overlooks Washington DC and is dedicated to all the unknown soldiers of four different wars: World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War.
The tomb features four crypts to represent the four wars, and four unknown soldiers were interned in the tomb; however, in 1998, the Vietnam War unknown was finally recognized through DNA testing and his remains were exhumed and moved to another location. Today, the Vietnam War crypt remains empty.
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is also famous for its tomb guards. The tomb has been guarded twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week since 1937. Tomb guards go through a rigorous selection process and training.
Manila American Cemetery
The Manila American Cemetery and Memorial occupies 152 acres of a plateau. There are 17, 058 graves in the cemetery, the most number of graves for World War II soldiers. Most of these soldiers lost their lives in the Philippines and in New Guinea. Listed within the memorial are the names of 36, 286 soldiers who were MIA. Those who were later recovered and identified were marked by rosettes.
The Motherland Calls
The Motherland Calls is the center of a monument ensemble in Volgograd, Russia. It is 170 feet tall and is considered as the tallest statue in Europe and the tallest statue of a woman in the world. It was completed in 1967 and features an impressive woman yielding a sword on top of a hill.
There are two hundred steps from the bottom of the hill to the site of the statue. The steps signify the two hundred days of the Battle of Stalingrad.
There were rumors that the statue started to tilt due to rising water levels that changed the statue’s underground, but successful restoration procedures helped preserved this dramatic memorial in Russia.
Shoes on the Dunabe Banks
Erected in 2005, Shoes on the Dunabe Banks is a memorial dedicated to the Jews who were killed in Budapest during World War II. The memorial composed of sixty pair of 1940-style iron shoes and is located in Budapest, Hungary.
From December 1944 to January 1945, Jews were lined up at the edge of the Dunabe River. They were shot and their dead bodies fell right into the water. Shoes on the Dunabe Banks represents the shoes left of those dead Jews.

Monument to the Women of World War II
Monument to the Women of World War II is located in London and was unveiled and dedicated in 2005. It features seventeen sets of clothing and uniform to symbolize the different roles women played during World War II.
Baroness Boothroyd said during the monument’s dedication, “This monument is dedicated to all the women who served our country and to the cause of freedom, in uniform and on the home front. I hope that future generations who pass this way will ask themselves: ‘What sort of women were they?’ and look at our history for the answer.”

There are many more war memorials around the world, each dedicated to the sacrifice our war heroes had to pay so we can enjoy the freedom we have today. These monuments are not tourist spots. Instead, these are places of reverence.
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This is one lesson from The Lost Ranger that is so important. The family of Staff Sergeant Hull had to and continues to endure the pain of what was first thought as a suicide for some seventy years. This pain caused by that original assumption permeated the lives of his entire family. Other families have likewise suffered horribly due to this topic across history, all wars, and all countries. Care for and love each other.