The monument honors those who died, those still missing, and those who returned, and remembers Korean War, Vietnam, and Persian Gulf War veterans. It recalls Korean War veterans fighting for peace at Heartbreak Ridge and Inchon, enduring winter cold and summer heat, often greatly outnumbered, and giving their lives for freedom, justice, and peace. It remembers Vietnam veterans as young people who went to war, lost youthful dreams and sometimes their lives for freedom and honor, returned with the horrors of war in every fiber of their being, and were never given the respect and honor they deserved from the public or the United States government. It invokes God's judgment and care for those who served in Vietnam, and quotes General Norman Schwarzkopf's words to Persian Gulf War veterans about determination, a just cause, and becoming the thunder and lightning of Desert Storm. It also declares that a nation that honors its veterans is dedicated to preserving freedom won by the sacrifice of life, and honors the valiant dead of the Armed Forces who ventured far, fought bravely, and gave their lives so that America may live.