[82Rigger]

_LOCATION: On the National Mall between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial.

_FORMAL DEDICATION: Saturday, May 29.

_COST: $174 million, most of it raised through private donations.

_MATERIALS: The memorial consists of bronze and granite. The granite comes mostly from the South. The main slabs are "Kershaw" from South Carolina and "Green County" from Georgia.

_DESIGN: The memorial plaza and the rainbow pool are the main features. Along the ceremonial entrance from 17th Street are a series of 24 bronze sculpted panels depicting scenes from the war, both at home and overseas. Eight of the panels have been installed; more will go up in the coming weeks though not all may be in place in time for the dedication.

_ARCHITECT: Friedrich St. Florian won a national competition to design the memorial. He says he hopes people will walk away reminded of the sacrifices of all those who took up arms to defend the nation and its ideals. It "must be a place where the legacy of World War II, the fact that we continue to live in a free country as a free people, can be celebrated."

The memorial also includes:

_Two 43-foot arches, Atlantic and Pacific, serving as markers and entries on the north and south ends of the plaza. They symbolize the two theaters of the war. Each pillar has four bronze columns supporting American eagles that hold a suspended victory laurel.

_Fifty-six granite pillars, each 17 feet high and representing every state and territory from that period and the District of Columbia. The pillars are inscribed with a state or territory, and adorned with two bronze wreaths, one oak and one wheat.

_A "Freedom Wall" with 4,000 sculpted gold stars that commemorate the more than 400,000 Americans killed. The gold star was the symbol of the death of a family member in the war.