Awesome Veterans Day Memorial in Arizona Is Only Visible Today

The sun lines up to make this memorial appear on Veterans Day.

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A memorial for U.S. veterans in Anthem, Ariz. is designed to shine especially bright on Veterans Day. On Nov. 11 at 11:11 a.m., the sun hits the memorial at a specific angle to reveal the Great Seal of the United States.

Conceived by retired Rear Admiral Ron Tucker and designed by Renee Palmer-Jones, the memorial is made of five pillars representing the five branches of the Armed Forces. The pillars sit in a section of Anthem Community Park atop bricks engraved with the names of 750 veterans.

According to OnlineAnthem.com, Palmer Jones wanted to create something "entirely unique and yet, ‘classical’ in structure, while emphasizing the significance of November 11, Veterans Day, each year," so she placed a mosaic below the pillars. One day a year, on Veterans Day, the sun shines through ovals carved out of the pillars and illuminates the mosaic. 

Palmer-Jones explains the significance of her design, "The objective of the Anthem Veterans Memorial is that the sun will illuminate every Veterans Day the glory of the American eagle mosaic which lay at the heart of the Memorial that is forever surrounded, loved and protected by our veterans."

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