Korean War Veterans Memorial | Mac Adams

Just north of Castle Clinton in Battery Park stands the Korean War Veterans Memorial, honoring the servicemen who fought in the so-called "forgotten war" from 1950-53. Designed by Welsh artist Mac Adams, the statue was dedicated in 1991 and was one of the first Korean War memorials erected on American soil.

The memorial consists of a 15-foot-tall slab of black granite, with the silhouette of a soldier cut out of the center. Viewers can stand and gaze straight through this figure -- known as the "Universal Soldier" -- and see the Statue of Liberty in the distance. The base of the statue is decorated with the flags of the nations that participated in the U.N.-sponsored mission, and the blocks paving the plaza are inscribed with the number of dead, wounded and missing from each of the 22 countries involved in the conflict.

And one last bit of trivia you might want to file away: Adams fashioned the statue so that it would double as a sundial. Every July 27 at 10 AM, on the anniversary of the exact moment (in EST, of course) hostilities ceased in Korea, the sun shines through the soldier's head, brilliantly illuminating the commemorative plaque at the statue's foot.

By Tom