Military veterans in the House and Senate quickly announced their intention to block the “disgraceful” design of the Global War on Terrorism Memorial, which was recently unveiled and is slated to be built on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

The memorial’s design, announced by the Global War on Terrorism Memorial Foundation (GWOTMF) on Wednesday and produced by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma and his firm, features a steel arch covered in vegetation dubbed "The Embrace" as well as a curved plaza and marble paths with footprints. It features symbolic and abstract themes, a large grassy landscape, and shallow reflecting pools. The backlash was swift.

Critics of the design — including Republican members of Congress and many dozens of veterans of the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) — variously argued that the design lacked any specific references to the two and a half decades of combat in the long war which began in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

Absence of inscribed names

Critics also argue the design failed to properly honor fallen service members (including the absence of inscribed names), did not include any statues or imagery of the far-flung battlefields, did not evoke the bravery and heroism of U.S. troops, and was disconnected from the experiences of the veterans who had fought in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.

The GWOTMF states that “our mission is to build a reverent and apolitical National War Memorial that will honor all who have served and sacrificed in the ongoing Global War on Terrorism. This includes uniformed and non-uniformed veterans, as well as the families who have supported them throughout this incredibly complex war fought by so few.”

“Our Vision for the Memorial is for it to be an inclusive and reverent space for all who have served and sacrificed in the GWOT,” the GWOTMF adds. “We also aim to recognize the ongoing nature of the war.”

The foundation did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Members of Congress call the design a “disgrace” and an “abomination”

Members of Congress responded quickly to the memorial design, vowing to stop it. Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., a Navy veteran who served in Afghanistan, weighed in on X on Thursday to blast the proposed design of the memorial.

“This proposal is a disgrace,” Banks said. “Thousands of heroic Americans sacrificed everything in service to our nation during the Global War on Terror. I served in Afghanistan. These were real people with real stories. They deserve to be honored with dignity, not disconnected abstract art.”

Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., a retired Navy SEAL who did combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, weighed in on Thursday to proclaim that “this memorial design appears to be an abomination.” The congressman said that “we are going to get together with some GWOT veteran members of congress to discuss this Jazz Hands Memorial” and said of the foundation that “I am going to talk to these folks. I don’t know the hell that thing is.”

“Congress does not support this sand trap on a 3 hole golf course lined with reclaimed barn wood,” he said derisively.

“To be Crystal Clear. There is now bipartisan / bicameral [support] to stop this proposed Jazz Hands monument to our fallen brothers and sisters,” Van Orden also said on X. “You are now officially on notice @GWOTMF, you will be held organizationally and personally accountable if you proceed with abomination.”

Rep. Clay Fuller, R-Ga., a veteran of the Air Force and a JAG officer who was deployed to Kuwait, said Saturday that “I’m joining with other GWOT veterans in Congress to fight this and I appreciate @RepVanOrden’s leadership to get this right for the men and women who gave the last full measure to stop Muslim terror.”

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, also made it clear that he was opposed to the proposed memorial.

“This design is a disappointing landscape feature better suited to a hotel courtyard or mini golf course than a monument to the courageous men and women who fought and the lives lost to radical Islamic terrorism,” Lee said. “There are American designers ready and willing to inspire their countrymen and honor those who served. Let’s start over and hire one of them.”

Hugh Hewitt, an influential conservative commentator, said on X that President Donald Trump should intervene.

“This is beyond awful. President Trump should issue an E.O. tomorrow forbidding any executive branch agency employee from doing anything to advance this absurdity while we wait for Congress to kill it,” he tweeted. “What is wrong with the people who designed this? Have they spoken to any veterans of GWOT much less families of the fallen?”

“Our Initial Design Concept”

The GWOTMF stated in Wednesday that “Our Initial Design Concept” consisted of four main elements: “The Embrace,” “The Path,” “The Footprints of Generations,” and “The Reflection Pool.” The foundation said that the design of the memorial was informed by a Help Design History campaign in 2023 and with input from a design advisory council.

“This design was shaped by history and held sacred from the beginning — forged by sacrifice and informed by the voices of warriors and their families,” Michael Rodriguez, the president and CEO of the GWOTMF and a retired U.S. Army Green Beret, said in a Wednesday press release. “Throughout history, societies have built sacred places to welcome their warriors home, places where a grateful people can say, ‘We see you. We honor you. You are not forgotten.’ The GWOT generations deserve that same enduring tribute. Today, we take one step closer to welcoming them home.”

The GWOTMF stated that “from the moment visitors arrive, the design resonates with those who served in the Global War on Terrorism” and that “sacred steel and stone relics recovered from the sites of the September 11, 2001, attacks stand at each of the Memorial’s three entrances, marking where the journey began.”

The “orientation” of the proposed memorial also “intentionally aligns with Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery, where many of the Global War on Terrorism fallen are laid to rest, linking the living city with sacred ground.”

“A path of honor, primarily in marble, connects the Memorial to the surrounding monuments and memorials of the National Mall and carries embedded footprints that represent the weight of war and the varied experiences of those who served and their families,” the GWOTMF also said. Finally, the “shallow reflecting pools extend from the footprint paths, and as visitors step through the water and back onto stone, their own footprints appear temporarily beside those of the service members,” the GWOTMF said, arguing that “this interactive component offers visitors the chance to walk alongside a loved one once more” at the memorial.

Architect: "A sacred responsibility"

“This Memorial is not an abstract commission for our team, it is a sacred responsibility,” Kuma said in the press release. “Our role was not to impose a design, but to listen. The voices of those who served and the families who stood beside them became our source of inspiration. We wanted to create a place of reflection and connection, a living Memorial where nature, light, and the materials of this war come together as an embrace for a grateful Nation.”

The GWOTMF promised in its press release that the memorial “will recognize the millions who answered the call to serve; honor the fallen and Gold Star families who carry their memory; and acknowledge the invisible wounds that so many continue to bear.”

The foundation also put out an announcement video about the design concept reveal.

President George W. Bush, the honorary chairman of the GWOTMF, said in a video clip that “building this memorial is an act of remembrance and unity, and visiting this memorial will be an act of gratitude and respect.”

Design draws backlash from vets

The video for the “Initial Design Concept Reveal” on the foundation’s own YouTube page received over 100 comments, many from veterans, and overwhelmingly negative.

Pushback on the memorial design also became a trending topic on X (formerly known as Twitter), with X saying that the “War on Terror Memorial Design Draws Veteran Backlash.”

Owen West, a Marine veteran who did multiple tours in Iraq and who is now the director of the War Department’s Defense Innovation Unit, lamented that the memorial design is “grimly accurate in this sense: Policymakers extending the military mission to implant democracy in Islamic society — and generals who endorsed fantasy — were ordering young troops to grow grass in the sky: high concept, no substrate, on them to uphold.”

Joshua Steinman, a former Navy officer and Iraq War veteran who was on the NSC during first Trump administration and was recently named to the Science, Technology and Innovation Board at the Department of War, sardonically tweeted of the memorial, “Perfect, really: - rules (don’t walk in the water!) mean you can’t get to the other side (victory) - the structure doesn’t make any sense, but has taken on a life of its own - minimal shade - requires lots of contractors to maintain - lots of people will go there and sit around.”

Vet says "We don’t need some modern piece of art"

“It’s ugly. You know it. I know it. Everybody else knows it,” Steinman added. “The sooner we talk about it openly the sooner the people who made it know that we know, and that we won’t agree to it, given that it is a spiritual insult.”

Joey Jones, a Marine Corps veteran who lost both his legs in Afghanistan and who recently reenlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve in a ceremony where War Secretary Pete Hegseth administered the oath, asked on X, “Why does everyone hate marble and bronze now?” “You cannot explain away how ugly and underwhelming it is,” Jones added.

Aaron MacLean, a Marine veteran who deployed to Afghanistan and the host of the “School of War” podcast, tweeted that “this is some weird looking stuff” and asked “who thinks this is a good design?”

Amber Smith, a former Army helicopter pilot who did combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, tweeted that “I’m a big NO on this as the GWOT Memorial. We don’t need some modern piece of art, we need something that reflects service members who served in the Iraq and Afghanistan (etc) wars…and this isn’t it.” Smith, a former deputy assistant to the secretary of defense for outreach in public affairs, also said that “someone needs to take this over asap who will stand up for actually honoring those who served and died in Iraq and Afghanistan….not symbolically, but actually.”

Alex Plitsas, an Army veteran who deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, tweeted that the memorial design had “no connection to the war and doesn’t memorize those who fell” and said he was “actually shocked at how terrible this design is. It’s horrendous.”

Connor Crehan, a former Army officer who deployed to Iraq, put together a response video.

“Just aesthetically, it doesn’t look very good […] You missed the mark,” Crehan, who is also the co-host of the Bold American Pod, said. “But maybe more importantly, nowhere on that memorial are the names of the service members who made the ultimate sacrifice in their country’s name in Iraq and Afghanistan — and that is a gross oversight.”

Matt Horine, an Army veteran who deployed to Afghanistan, also quipped that “the GWOT Memorial design concept should launch the Global War on Postmodernism.”

A host of other U.S. military veterans — numbering at least in the hundreds — also fired off posts critiquing the design of the proposed GWOT memorial on the National Mall.

Foundation promises a “spirit of listening” after backlash

The GWOTMF responded to the flood of criticism multiple times following its design unveiling.

“From day one, our mission has been to listen to the warrior culture that emerged from this conflict, give voice to those who lived it, and ensure their experiences helped shape what this Memorial would become,” the foundation tweeted. “Our listening continues, which is why the Global War on Terrorism Memorial Foundation launched a survey immediately after releasing the initial design concept to encourage continued, constructive dialogue. The same spirit of listening that began in 2018 and shaped this Memorial will carry us forward.”

The foundation added that “we welcome the conversation as we continue this sacred no-fail mission” and encouraged people to share their thoughts via Survey Monkey.

The GWOTMF had quickly rolled out an “Initial Design Concept Feedback” form related to the proposed memorial design, saying, “Your voice matters. You matter. We value your feedback.” The survey asked respondents “how consistent does the design feel with the Global War on Terrorism Memorial Foundation’s mission” to “build a reverent and apolitical National War Memorial that will honor all who have served and sacrificed in the ongoing Global War on Terrorism.”

The survey also asked “how excited are you about this design direction?” and “what, if anything, would you change before moving forward?”

The foundation also put out a Friday video defending their decision not to include the names of the fallen at the memorial. “One of the questions we’re most often asked is how the names of the fallen will be represented in this memorial,” the foundation’s leader said. “As we honor all who served in the Global War on Terrorism, both uniformed and non-uniformed, we must recognize that many gave their lives in ways that cannot always be publicly named, including those lost in classified missions. This war came home. Some have been lost to suicide and others to illness. With this in mind, we have chosen to honor their service and sacrifice symbolically.”

Design is not without its fans

Though much smaller in volume, the memorial design does have a number of vocal fans.

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, who was a lieutenant colonel in the Iowa National Guard and spent twelve months in Kuwait during the war in Iraq, expressed her support for the memorial following the design announcement.

“After two decades of sacrifice in the Global War on Terror, this memorial gives that service a lasting place in stone and steel alongside our nation’s great war memorials,” Ernst said on X. “It ensures those who answered the call after 9/11 are never forgotten.”

Mike Lyons, an Army officer who served in Operation Desert Storm, tweeted that “this is very necessary and hope it can be started soon.”

“Global perspective” brought by Kuma and touted by the GWOTMF

The foundation has repeatedly pointed to the “global” perspective which Kuma has brought to the memorial design.

The GWOTMF posted the transcript of an October 2024 interview with Kuma, where the architect was asked why he believed the memorial is important, with Kuma saying the memorial was not just for America. “I believe this Memorial is extremely important, not only for America but for the entire world,” Kuma said. “Terrorism is a global issue, one shared by all countries. The situation we face today is complex, and this Memorial can symbolize hope. It’s a message that the world desperately needs.”

He was also asked what made him want to be involved in designing the memorial.

“When I received the invitation to be considered as lead designer, I felt as though it was a personal invitation from my friend encouraging me to get involved,” Kuma said. “A very simple message from him. I believe the Memorial should also convey a simple, yet powerful message. We can all share in the idea together that we want to do our best to achieve that kind of special Memorial.”

Kuma said that “I hope this Memorial will serve as a bridge for future generations, allowing them to feel something beyond just the physical monument” when asked about the memorial’s message. “We want to pass this message on to the younger generation. That is the true role of a Memorial — to carry a message across time.”

He was also asked what it meant to him to be the lead designer of this project.

“My team and I at Kengo Kuma & Associates are honored to be part of this project, which I believe is one of the most significant projects in the world right now. The Memorial will be built on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., among the other Memorials, each representing a period in history and humanity,” Kuma said. “The Global War on Terrorism Memorial should stand as part of that legacy while also reflecting the complexities of our time. We look forward to ensuring that people, experiences, and beauty are at the forefront of this project.”

At no point in this Q&A did Kuma mention Iraq, Afghanistan, or any of the other theaters of battle in the GWOT, nor did he mention U.S. service members, the fallen, the wounded, the Gold Star families left behind, nor the veterans of these wars.

The GWOTMF released a half hour long podcast episode in October 2025 hosted by Ballou with guests Kuma and Kuma associate Balazs Bognar.

“Everybody is watching what to realize in that place, and how to create peace about the war on terrorism is very much connected with the future of us, and that is the biggest lesson learned from them,” Kuma also said. “I was very moved by the voices.”

Kuma also said he envisioned the memorial as “a real world monument.”

“We’re trying to create a monument with a very quiet shape and with the material, and especially the water is very important, and it is by using that kind of natural material, so I want to share this with everybody,” Kuma said.

The architect was asked about what kind of emotional journey he envisioned visitors will have when they go to the memorial. “The visitors will have a very quiet experience in the memorial. And the memorial itself is not a super high building, it is not super high as a monument, it is merging to that moment, as the water is a protagonist of the memorial,” Kuma said. “And as the waters reflect everything, the water reflects the sky, the clouds, and it is a conversation with waters, the guests they can go to their own experience deeply, and that is basically a philosophy behind the memorial.”

When asked how the memorial would take into account that the GWOT is still ongoing, Kuma replied, “The political situation and global situation are very complex […] We need to be connected again. The monument is a monument of connection.”

And when asked what he hoped future generations would understand about this chapter in history, Kuma referenced the importance of remembering 9/11, but did not talk with any specificity about the two and a half decade-long war which followed.

GWOT has lasted a quarter-century

The GWOT has spanned two and a half decades and multiple continents, as the U.S. invaded Afghanistan after 9/11 and ousted the Taliban as they shielded Al-Qaeda, invaded Iraq and captured Saddam Hussein before dealing with Sunni jihadi and Iranian-backed terrorist insurgencies, crushed the Islamic State’s so-called caliphate, and battled jihadist groups in Syria, Somalia, Yemen, and elsewhere.

The end result of the GWOT remains uncertain even after all these years, with the Taliban back in power in Afghanistan, Iraq more stable and more peaceful but heavily influenced by neighboring Iran and still plagued by terrorism, the U.S. conflict with the Iranian regime at an uncertain inflection point, and Al-Qaeda and ISIS still surviving.

The list of U.S. military deaths during this long war includes 4,419 deaths during Operation Iraqi Freedom and 74 deaths during Operation New Dawn in Iraq, along with 118 deaths in Operation Inherent Resolve aimed against the Islamic State, according to the War Department. The list also includes 2,350 U.S. military deaths during Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and the region and 109 deaths during Operation Freedom’s Sentinel in Afghanistan.

The GWOTMF says that the construction of the memorial is projected for 2027, and that the memorial is projected to be completed in 2028.