Anchorage Memorial

The Anchorage Memorial is a bronze monument located in the southeast quadrant of the Capital Wasteland in 2277. It commemorates the battles at the Anchorage Front Line in Alaska. Inside are several structural levels as well as an underground maintenance area which are inhabited by mirelurks.

Background
Constructed before the Great War on what was previously FDR Island in the Potomac, the monument has withstood the elements for two centuries and is still standing by 2277. A sprawling underground installation was built under the base of the monument. The facility contains kitchens and meat processing rooms to handle the "products" as well as breeding "pods" in the lower levels.

After the war, a group of wastelanders herded the emerging mirelurk population into the facility, resulting in the mirelurks building a nest inside. The mirelurks were then used as a source of fresh meat, and large quantities were sold to passing traders, earning the wastelanders large amounts of caps as a result. This trade encroached upon a competitor, who began losing business to the operation and eventually a mercenary team was dispatched but ended up releasing the mirelurks, which promptly killed most, if not all of the people in the complex.

Layout
The Anchorage Memorial consists of one exterior section and four interior sections:

Exterior
The monument rests on a man-made island in the middle of the Potomac River. It is connected to the west bank of the river by a small bridge with several frag mines setup in the shape of a ribbon. There are four entrances into the facility: one on the north side of the monument which connects to the facility, one on the south that connects to the service entrance, one to the south underwater that connects to the office, and one right next to the monument on the west side at the end of a staircase. To the north of Anchorage Memorial is a super mutant camp against the border of the downtown D.C. area. There is a tent with a captive behind two large trucks, with several interconnected buildings that were destroyed during the Great War. There is also a statue modeled after a photograph that was taken in the Operation: Anchorage simulation. In the simulation, the Lone Wanderer can watch the picture being taken. Oddly enough, the soldiers' armor on the statue looks totally different from the actual armor worn in the simulation.

Anchorage Memorial facility
The living quarters and main workspace for the wastelanders who ran the meat processing facility. The area consists of two floors with minor loot and custom weapon components strewn about. On the second floor, there is a workbench against the south wall. There is one mirelurk that wanders on this floor. On the first floor, there is a safe with the door component in the west room, which appears to have served as a doctor's office. There is also a Nuka-Cola vending machine next to the stairwell on the north wall. The access codes holotape can be found behind the vending machine and there are two exits which lead to the facility bay on both floors. Pre-War books can be found in the room on the second floor.

Anchorage Memorial facility bay
This area serves as a hub that connects the other three areas together. It consists of four levels with supply crates and machinery. The second floor has exits which lead to the facility, office, and service entrance. The first floor has several mirelurk spawning pods and an exit to the service entrance. The third floor has an exit to the facility. Finally, the fourth floor exits to the Capital Wasteland. There are four mirelurks in this area along with a dead mercenary on the top floor with a note.

Memorial facility offices
A couple of offices with an entrance to a large underground space. There is a wall safe in the office next to the entrance of the area. There is a Nuka-Cola vending machine against the west wall, next to some lockers and bathrooms. There is a hole in the floor leading to a lower area that serves as the mirelurk breeding ground. There are a lot of mirelurk spawning pods strewn about. A mirelurk king will spawn here, even at lower levels. There are also two other mirelurks. There is an exit to the Capital Wasteland under the water at the far end of the breeding area. Oddly, this exit is a wooden door despite the fact that it is below the normal water level of the Potomac, as opposed to the metal grate that is used as the exterior underwater entrance.

Memorial service entrance
This entrance is located on the south side of the memorial in the Capital Wasteland.

A small sewer area serving as a secondary breeding ground for the mirelurks. It also contains an entirely separate area that has what appears to be a dining facility for the workers, including a large kitchen with many refrigerators and a well-stocked bar. The area contains the utility room and a refrigerator with a secret compartment; both are initially inaccessible (except as noted below for the utility room).

The utility room (with around three mirelurks guarding it) is the last door on the right hand wall of the north branch. The utility room is accessible with the door component found in the safe in the Anchorage Memorial facility and a Repair skill of 35. Without the door component, a Repair skill of 95 is necessary in order to access the room. If you are entering this area from the facility bay area, the sewer system with the utility room is accessed by going up the staircase in the kitchen and heading west.

The lowest level of the area is a smaller space with several dead mirelurks and mirelurk meat strewn about. There is a refrigerator that contains a secret freezer compartment (A), which contains the stash mentioned in the holotape found in the utility room mentioned above. It is only accessible after a successful Perception check of 5. The lock for this compartment cannot be picked; the stash key (found in the utility room mentioned above) is needed to unlock it.

A door to the Capital Wasteland can be found in the sewer area at the end of the left passage.

Exterior

 * Pugilism Illustrated - On a bookshelf in the cargo trailer hitched to the yellow truck that forms the perimeter of the super mutant camp due north of the memorial.
 * Keller Family transcript #5 - Also in the super mutant camp, in a tent.

Anchorage Memorial facility

 * D.C. Journal of Internal Medicine - In the clinic area (B), next to the safe on the table to the right.
 * Dean's Electronics - Inside the safe in the clinic area (B).
 * Door component - Inside the safe in the clinic area (B).
 * Access codes - A holotape behind a Nuka-Cola vending machine.
 * Bottlecap mine - On a workbench in the center room.
 * Pre-War books - Three of them on the second floor, in the room on the west side.

Memorial service entrance

 * Anchorage stash key - In the utility closet (A), on a shelf to the left.
 * Anchorage War Memorial stash - Next to the key. This is a holotape describing where the stash is.
 * Nuka-Cola Quantum - In the utility closet (A).
 * Recipe - mirelurk cakes and 300 caps in the secret freezer compartment. This is the actual stash mentioned in the holotape Anchorage War Memorial stash.
 * The Tenderizer - In the utility closet (A), on a shelf to the left.
 * U.S. Army: 30 Handy Flamethrower Recipes - In the utility closet (A), on a shelf to the right.

Related quests

 * Wasteland Survival Guide

Appearances
The Anchorage Memorial appears only in Fallout 3.