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World War I Remembered
When "the Great War" ended in 1918, the United States did not have a tradition of national war memorials. Most memorials honored veterans from the local community, such as the District of Columbia War Memorial on the National Mall. An exception was the Liberty Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri, which honored all the nation's veterans of the war. Other World War I monument in Washington include the First and Second Division Memorials in President's Park.
In 1923, Congress established the American Battle Monuments Commission to construct overseas monuments and memorials to the accomplishments of American armed forces in the war. ABMC erected monuments in France, Belgium, and Gibraltar, as well as memorial chapels at the eight American cemeteries in Europe. general Pershing was the commission's first chairman, serving until his death in 1948. Today, ABMC maintains 31 monuments, memorials, and markers in seventeen countries around the world, commemorating conflicts from the Mexican-American War to the Vietnam War as well as 23 World War I and II cemeteries in Europe, North Africa, and the Philippines.
In 1966, Congress authorized ABMC to establish a memorial to General Pershing and the American Expeditionary Forces on this site. The memorial was designed by Wallace K. Harrison with a sculpture of General Pershing by Robert White. Dedicated in 1981, Pershing Park was not conceived at the time as a "national" war memorial. One year later the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedicated on the National Mall, followed by the Korean War Veterans Memorial in 1995 and the World War II Memorial in 2004.
In 2014, in conjunction with the centennial of World War I, Congress designated both Pershing Park and the Liberty Memorial as national World War I memorials, and authorized the World War I Centennial Commission to enhance Pershing Park to further honor all U.S. armed forces that served in the war, not just the AEF. Based on a competition-winning design by architect Joseph Weishaar and sculptor Sabin Howard, and building on the original park design by M. Paul Freidberg, the redeveloped park was re-opened in 2021.
"In dedication of this memorial let us pledge our lives to God and country. May the devotion of those who answered the call of duty in the supreme crisis of war prove an abiding inspiration to loyalty and high endeavor."
-- General John J. Pershing, at the site dedication of the Liberty Memorial, November 1, 1921 |