The World War I Memorial Foundation
We are pleased to report that the restoration of the DC War Memorial is virtually complete. All that remains is the grouting of a few stones, laying of new sod, and planting of about 10 new trees. This work will be completed, and all fencing around the site removed, in advance of a ceremony that will be held to celebrate the memorial's restoration on Thursday, November 10, at 11:00 am. We invite all our supporters to attend that event and show their support for re-dedication of the memorial as a national World War I memorial. Further details will be announced on the website and in our newsletter.
In March 2008, Frank Buckles, the last surviving American veteran of World War I, visited the District of Columbia War Memorial, on the National Mall in Washington DC. He observed that this peaceful, secluded memorial, dedicated in 1931 as a memorial to the 499 residents of the District of Columbia who gave their lives in that war, sits neglected and in extreme disrepair, and that there is no national memorial to World War I. Mr. Buckles issued a call for the restoration and re-dedication of the D.C. memorial as a National and District of Columbia World War I Memorial.
In 2014 the world will mark the centennial of World War I. Nearly 5 million Americans served during the war, and 116,516 Americans died in defense of democracy overseas. America’s support of its allies in World War I marked the first time in this nation’s history that American soldiers went abroad to defend foreign soil against aggression -- and it marked the true beginning of “the American century.”
Yet while the later conflicts of the 20th century - World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War -- rightfully have national memorials on the National Mall, there is no such memorial to “the Great War,” even though more Americans gave their lives in World War I than in Korea or Vietnam. The D.C. memorial, which is already located adjacent to those other memorials, is the most fitting site for a national World War I memorial.
Please help honor America’s veterans of World War I, by by donating generously to the World War I Memorial Foundation. and by asking your Congressman and Senators to support S. 2097, the Frank Buckles World War I Memorial Act.
