The Altar, recognized by Congress as a national memorial, is the focal point of this "cathedral without walls" in southwestern New Hampshire.
For more than sixty years, the Altar has been the setting for dedicatory ceremonies honoring patriotic sacrifice, and for religious services by all major faiths and denominations including Catholic, Jewish, Protestant, Eastern Orthodox, Hindu, Islamic, Buddhist, Confucian, Christian Scientist, Unitarian, Mormon, and Seventh Day Adventist to name a few.
Its all-denominational and non-sectarian nature contributes to the Altar’s uniqueness. The Altar also is unique not only because it pays tribute to all American war dead, the only memorial in the nation to do so, but because of the very stones from which it is built. The stones recall the history and heritage of our country and the heroic efforts of the men and women who struggled to build and preserve it.
As early as 1760, and for almost 175 years afterward, those who settled and farmed the land around the Altar’s site had to clear rocks from the soil in order to till their fields. What these pioneers saw as obstacles to survival would eventually be used in the Altar’s foundation in a fitting homage to their faith and perseverance.
The stones that make up the main body of the Altar have a special history, too. All have been donated. They come from every state and territory of the United States, and from major battlefields around the world. Every U.S. president, from Harry Truman to George W. Bush, has provided a stone tribute to be included in the Altar. The top commanders of the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard have contributed stones as well.
All of the stones have special significance. Some are especially interesting because of where they came from, or because of their association with historical events or figures. There is a stone from Plymouth, England where the Pilgrims left the Old World and a stone from Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts where they landed in the new. There are stones from the battlefields of Lexington, Concord, and Yorktown where the American Revolution began and ended. There are three stones from the Parthenon in Athens, Greece, and a stone from the ancient Colosseum in Rome.
Stones have come from the homes, libraries, or grave sites of U.S. presidents including George Washington, Andrew Jackson, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson, and Ronald Reagan. A volcanic rock from Little America in the Antarctic honors the famous explorer Admiral Richard E. Byrd. Numerous stones came from the various battlefields of WWI and WWII in Europe, such as the one contributed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower that he took from Omaha Beach in Normandy, site of the D-Day invasion. There are tributes from the Pacific Theater of WWII with stones from Japan, the Coral Sea, and from the shores of Iwo Jima. There are stones from Korea, Viet Nam, and Iraq. One of the more recent stones, donated by President George W. Bush, came from the Pentagon following the attack on America, September 11, 2001.
In addition to these historic stones, the Altar includes a host of commemorative bronze plaques donated by patriotic service organizations and veterans’ groups like the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Sons of the American Revolution, the Woman’s Relief Corps, the Daughters of Union Veterans, the United Daughters of the Confederacy, the United Spanish War Veterans, the American Legion, AMVETs, VFW, Jewish War Veterans, Disabled American Veterans, and the Marine Corps League.
Three large slabs of "verde antique," also known as "Maryland Green," marble form the top of the Altar. The slabs weigh more than half a ton each. They came from a quarry in Maryland that straddles the Mason-Dixon line, the traditional boundary separating the northern and the southern sections of the U.S. Thus, the slabs symbolize the North and the South and the joining of the two into one Union. Mixed into the mortar that binds the marble to the Altar is holy soil from Mt. Zion in Jerusalem.
The Altar’s natural and serene setting, its dedication to honoring all who have sacrificed for a higher purpose, and the universal support it has received in furthering this lofty goal make the Altar of the Nation indeed a unique shrine. The hundreds of thousands of visitors who come to Cathedral of the Pines, and those who worship at the Altar, experience a feeling of unity and belonging, and a sense of the kinship of all mankind. It is an experience they will never forget.