The Anthem Veterans Memorial in Anthem, Arizona is a monument dedicated to honoring the service and sacrifice of the United States armed forces.
While beautiful on its own, the memorial is said to be incomplete for 364 days out of the year.
But on November 11 of each year to mark Veterans Day it becomes complete with help from the sun.
The sun shines through all five of the holes in the marble pillars and creates a solar spotlight over The Great Seal of the United States.
A lot of thought went into the memorial and the angle of the holes are so accurate that the sun spotlight will work for hundreds of years given the memorial is still standing. "We also checked the variance 500 years out, and if the structure is still standing, it will work," Jim Martin, the memorial's chief engineer said.
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Veterans Day is held every year on November 11 and celebrates the service of all U.S. military veterans.
There are hundreds of Veteran memorials all over the country.
The Anthem Veterans Memorial in Anthem, Arizona is a monument dedicated to honoring Veterans but it's incomplete 364 days out of the year.
The five marble pillars represent the five branches of the United States military: 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 pillars are staggered in size (from 17 ft to 6 ft) and each features a large hole in the center.
On any given day, the sun will shine through the holes but a shadow will be cast over The Great Seal of the United States.
It's only on Veterans Day that the memorial becomes complete.
"At precisely 11:11 a.m. each Veterans Day (Nov. 11), the sun's rays pass through the ellipses of the five Armed Services pillars to form a solar spotlight on the glass mosaic of The Great Seal of the United States," the Anthem Community Council explained on its website.
The sun spotlight is an absolutely amazing sight and hundreds of people flock to the memorial to see it.
It took a lot of science to get the memorial to look exactly right.
The memorial also serves as an abstract American flag using the red pavers, white pillars, and blue sky.
The memorial's design was created by Renee Palmer Jones, an artist and Anthem resident.
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