I am shocked to find that in Washington, DC, there is no memorial dedicated to those who served our nation in the First World War – it turns out that I wasn’t the only person who didn’t know:
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.
I have seen that memorial and it is actually quite a moving place – though it is in great disrepair. And it would make an excellent memorial to all those who served – and this includes my grand-father and all of his brothers, as well as a couple sisters who served as nurses. They are all gone now, but the centennial of the First World war is little more than four years off and it would be fitting that the veterans receive a memorial worthy of their sacrifice – and as a permanent reminder to future generations of those Americans who went “Over There” to fight for freedom.
This link is to a petition which urges Congress to appropriate the money necessary to make this a reality. I hope you will sign and join in remembering the veterans of the First World War.
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