Quinn and his family flew to Washington, D.C., on Thursday from Ramstein Air Base in Germany. Quinn, chief of the Aerospace Ground Equipment Flight, 86th Maintenance Squadron, stood by his grandmother's side throughout the ceremony. The memorial, designed by Rhode Island architect Friedrich St. Florian, is scheduled to open in 2003 and will feature 56 pillars, each 17 feet high, and two large rainbow-shaped pools. A wall of gold stars would represent the more than 400,000 soldiers killed in the war.
Organizers hope to officially break ground for the construction of the memorial in the spring.
A group opposing the site selected for the memorial has filed a federal lawsuit seeking to block construction of the memorial that is to honor the 16 million people who fought in the war. Critics argue the memorial's design, which spans 7.4 acres, damages the view between two memorials honoring Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. President Clinton spoke of the honor he felt five years ago, when he first dedicated the site for the memorial, and continues to feel today. Clinton thanked those students for the bake sales, car washes and other activities that raised money for the memorial effort. Actor Tom Hanks, who became the national spokesman for the memorial after his portrayal of a World War II soldier in the 1998 epic Saving Private Ryan , read to the crowd an article written in 1943 by American journalist Ernie Pyle, one of the most famous war correspondents.