J Walking @ Indiana War Memorial & Military Museum | Observer's Mission | Indianapolis, IN

Indiana War Memorial Building
The Indiana War Memorial- unequivocally the crown jewel of the War Memorial Plaza National Historic District-was built to honor Hoosier veterans of World War I.
Architects Walker and Weeks planned the Indiana World War Memorial building as the plaza's centerpiece, sited between the federal building and the public library. The memorial's design is based upon the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It is the most imposing neoclassical structure in Indianapolis due to its scale and size.
The cubical structure is clad in unrelieved ashlar Indiana limestone on a high, lightly rusticated base, and is topped with a low pyramidal roof that sheathes its interior dome. It stands on a raised terrace approached by a wide monumental staircase. The structure has four identical faces. On each face, an Ionic screen of six columns, behind which are tall banks of windows, and is surmounted by symbolic standing figures designed by Henry Hering: Courage, Memory, Peace, Victory, Liberty, and Patriotism. The sculptures are repeated on each façade. On the south side, standing on a pink granite base in the center of the grand access stairs, is Hering's colossal exultant male nude bronze Pro Patria (1929); it is 24 feet (7.3 m) high, weighs seven tons, and was the largest cast bronze sculpture in the United States.
The north and south entrances are guarded by shield-bearing limestone lions, and on each corner of the terrace sits an urn. The pyramidal roof is stepped and has a lantern on top. Above the tall bronze doors on each side is the inscription "To vindicate the principles of peace and justice in the world." On the north side is the building's main inscription:
To commemorate the valor and sacrifice of the land, sea and air forces of the United States and all who rendered faithful and loyal service at home and overseas in the World War; to inculcate a true understanding and appreciation of the privileges of American citizenship; to inspire patriotism and respect for the laws to the end that peace may prevail, justice be administered, public order maintained and liberty perpetuated
Today, through the Indiana War Museum, it also conveys the contributions and sacrifices of Hoosier service men and women from the Revolutionary War through recent peacekeeping operations and conflicts.