Until now, our nation’s capital has never had an official tribute to the 4.7 million Americans who served in World War I. After winning a design competition held by the World War I Centennial Commission, Atlanta architect Joe Weishaar lead the creation of the new memorial which opened in Washington, D.C. earlier this month. He joined “City Lights” host Lois Reitzes via Zoom to talk about the process of designing this tribute to America’s soldiers.
“It wasn’t until the Vietnam Memorial in 1982 that we really started building national memorials, and once that process started, it really went in reverse chronological order,” said Weishaar. “It wasn’t until we had no living veterans that we got around to building the World War I Memorial.”
WASHINGTON â The nationâs capital does not want for monuments, but a new one to an old war opened with a flag-raising ceremony Friday.
The National World War I Memorial in Pershing Park is the first monument in the nationâs capital to all the 4.7 million Americans who served in the Great War and the 116,512 who would never come home.
As belated as the ceremony may have been, no pomp was spared during the hourlong event. There were recorded comments from President Joe Biden, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, plus a military band, WWI doughboy and sailor re-enactors, and, scaring a sizable subset of the city, a military flyover by two F-22s.
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A flag that s flown over cemeteries in Europe where Americans killed in The Great War are buried has been raised again over Pershing Park in Washington, the new home of the National World War I Memorial.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
John McCrae’s immortal words of remembrance of all who fell in the Great War carried through a beautiful ceremony honoring the oft-forgotten war and America’s pivotal role. On Friday morning, politicians, historians, activists, military leaders, artists, and descendants virtually gathered to raise the American flag over the newly-erected World War I memorial in Washington DC.
As the last of the major 20th century US war veterans to receive a national memorial, those who served in WWI now have a powerful tribute to their sacrifice, bravery, and heroism. Hopefully, the monument will help return the Great War to public consciousness.
World War I Centennial Commission/Youtube
(WASHINGTON) A flag that s flown over cemeteries in Europe where Americans killed in The Great War are buried has been raised again over Pershing Park in Washington, the new home of the National World War I Memorial.
Located on Pennsylvania Avenue near the White House, the memorial was unveiled Friday in a virtual ceremony, opens to the public beginning Saturday, and marks the last of the major American wars to have a place of honor and remembrance in the nation s capital.
President Joe Biden, in remarks recorded for the virtual ceremony, honored the 4.7 million Americans who served in what at the time was called The Great War, the first conflict on a world-wide scale.