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Sometimes the stars align and everything goes really right: that’s what happened on November 11, 2018 in Anthem, Arizona — except it was the Sun, not the stars.
Anthem is the home of the Anthem Veterans Memorial which was designed by local resident Renee Palmer-Jones. What makes this memorial so unique is it’s not a “static” monument; it interacts with the Sun. And each year, on November 11 at 11:11 AM, the Sun is in just the right position to shine through cut-outs in the monument and illuminate The Great Seal of the United States. This is an amazing feat of engineering, and Anthem resident “Jim Martin was responsible for aligning the memorial accurately with the sun,” an article on TwistedSifter.com states.
The article also explains the arrangement of the pillars: “The five marble pillars represent the five branches of the United States military. They are staggered in size (from 17 ft to 6 ft) and ordered in accordance with the Department of Defense prescribed precedence, ranging from the United States Army, the United States Marine Corps, the United States Navy, the United States Air Force, and the United States Coast Guard.”
The white marble pillars cast a dramatic shadow on the brick pavers which surround the pillars, making The Great Seal of the United States truly glow when the sunlight comes through to illuminate it.
