Central to the Korean War Veterans Memorial are the sculptures of 19 soldiers climbing a hill, a unit on patrol. Vigilant, some search right, others looking left, firearms handy. Not the romantic view of war one might expect in close proximity to many grand statues around the US Capitol, this sculpture is surprising in its realistic, haunted, almost grim perspective of the soldier's sacrifice. I found the expressions of the soldiers to be striking and amazingly lifelike, showing wariness, fear, uncertainty and an overwhelming sense of fatigue.

At the top of the hill these soldiers are climbing you come to an inscription in the stone which reads "Freedom Is Not Free."

Photographing the sculptures in black and white, like a 1950's journalist, seemed to fit the subject.

I recommend viewing this gallery using the "slideshow" option found in the upper right corner of your screen. As the slideshow begins you can adjust the presentation speed by changing the length of delay at the bottom of the screen. 5 seconds seems to work pretty well for this and other galleries.