Remembering a Memorial Forgotten

Remembering a Memorial Forgotten
2009 January 26by thurdl01 in History, United States of America

The District of Columbia War Memorial

It sits on one side of the massive reflecting pool that separates the Lincoln Memorial from the Washington Monument. As you’re walking from the sixteenth to first presidents, it’s on the right hand side, beyond the ghostly images of the Korean Memorial and the small Park Police outpost where they stable their horses. It’s set back into the trees that line the Reflecting Pool, just a little rotunda on the less traveled side of the Mall, easy for even someone who’s looking for it to overlook it entirely. Officially it’s the District of Columbia World War Memorial. Unofficially, it’s the closest thing the Mall has to a World War I memorial.

In 1917, the United States went to war in a way it never had before. For the first time, the United States went to war to defend nations other than itself. Previously, the wars that the United States fought were all for its own direct interest. We were fighting for independence, we were fighting intervention, we were fighting to hold together the nation, or we were fighting to let the Western Hemisphere govern itself. World War I marked a turning point, fighting wars abroad in the name of preserve and expanding freedom. One can argue the individual merits of each war, but United States men and women fought them, and died in them. The three wars that followed World War I all have a prominent place on the Mall. World War II got the last major place of honor on the Mall, down at the feet of the Washington Monument. Vietnam has its black gash of a wall listing the names of the dead. Korea has its wall of ghostly faces and platoon of statues.


From up close, it becomes more apparent that the Memorial is in need of a good cleaning.World War I has only an unofficial memorial, dedicated only to commemorate those citizens of the District of Columbia who fought and died in the trenches of Europe.

The Memorial itself was authorized in 1924 and dedicated in 1931, hence why it refers to The World War, as it was constructed in a period when it was not yet known what new horrors were in store. The design is a simple one, a marble rotunda supported by twelve columns. Stairs on either side let the visitor climb inside the memorial, which could comfortably house no more than a dozen people. Around the base are inscribed the names of those District residents who died in the War, and within the corner stone is held the names of those who fought and came home. 26,000 fought. 499 died. This is but a mere fraction of the American toll of the war which claimed nearly 118,000 lives. I know this is an international blog, and that the American toll is a mere fraction of the nearly 10 million Allied dead and 16.5 million lives that the war would ultimately claim, but these 118,000 dead also represent a greater loss of life than Korea and Vietnam combined, and more lives claimed by any conflict America was involved with, save for the Civil War and World War II.

A pair of paths lead to the Memorial, slate flagstones. Many are chipped, a few are broken, and one or two are missing entirely. The marble is stained, and needs a good cleaning. Around the Memorial, remembrances have been left by those who know where to find it, white roses and poppies. The interpretive signs on either side are cracked and showing their age. It is a site that, in spite of its prominent location, is slowly slipping into complete obscurity.


A lone white rose left as a remembrance

So what makes this an actual news story, rather than just ramblings bemoaning a forgotten memorial? In the initial splurge of bills introduced to the new Congress is one by Rep Ted Poe, a Republican representing the 2nd District of Texas. The bill (HR 482, full text) calls for the Memorial to be renovated, expanded, and rededicated as a National and District of Columbia World War I Memorial. Obviously there are many more important issues that face the Congress right now, but I for one am cheering for this little bill to make its way through, to help fix up a sadly overlooked spot on the Mall and providing fitting tribute to those who fought and those who died in a war that really reshaped what it was to be the United States of America.