The memorial consists of 56 granite pillars, each tall, arranged in a semicircle around a plaza with two triumphal arches on opposite sides. Two-thirds of the site is landscaping and water. Each pillar is inscribed with the name of one of the 48 U.S. states of 1945, as well as the District of Columbia, the Alaska Territory and Territory of Hawaii, the Commonwealth of the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The northern arch is inscribed with "Atlantic"; the southern one, "Pacific." The plaza is long and wide, is sunk below grade, and contains a pool that is .