Photos courtesy of Anthem Community Council

Every Veterans Day at 11:11 a.m., sunlight streams through the ellipses on five tall marble pillars, casting a bright solar spotlight on a glass-mosaic rendering of the Great Seal of the United States.

Both the seal and the pillars, the latter which represent the five service branches of the United States military, are elements of the Anthem Veterans Memorial in Anthem, Arizona.

This award-winning engineering marvel rests atop the Circle of Honor. It consists of 3,000 brick pavers, some 750 of which are inscribed with honored veterans’ names, and is surrounded by five park benches representing family members waiting for their loved ones to return. Anthem resident Renee Palmer-Jones designed the monument so that the white pillars and red pavers would blend with the blue sky, and fellow resident and engineer Jim Martin used precise mathematical calculations to guide the sun’s rays, allowing them to hit their mark at the same time each year. Dedicated on November 11, 2011, the monument has become a unique place where Americans can gather to solemnly honor those who gave all.