"Not to include World War I with the memorials to other 20th century wars in Washington would be wrong."

Capital disgrace: Still no National WWI Memorial in DC 

By Marsha Mercer
via the Richmond Times-Dispatch newspaper's richmond.com web site

When you’re in Washington, you can visit memorials to veterans of Vietnam, Korea, and World War II — but you won’t find one for the veterans of World War I.

“If all goes as hoped,” the National World War I memorial will open in 2018, the 100th anniversary of the armistice ending the Great War, I wrote in a column three years ago.

The Carillon in Richmond’s Byrd Park — the state’s memorial to Virginians who died in World War I — was dedicated in 1932. (2017, P. KEVIN MORLEY/TIMES-DISPATCH )It certainly seemed doable. The last surviving World War I veteran, Frank Buckles, died in 2011, after devoting his last years to pushing for a memorial on the National Mall in Washington.

But all did not go as hoped. In a capital known for its dysfunction, the National World War I Memorial could be Exhibit A.

For Americans, the Great War lasted one year, seven months, and five days — but planning for this national memorial has dragged on more than five years.

In a capital known for its dysfunction, the National World War I Memorial could be Exhibit A.

The World War One Centennial Commission was created by Congress in 2013 to educate people on what it calls “America’s forgotten war, even though more Americans gave their lives during that war than during Korea and Vietnam combined.”

Nearly 5 million American men and women served and 116,516 died in the “war to end all wars.”

Congress authorized building the national memorial in Washington in 2014. But squabbling over the design continues, and no opening date has been set. Planners now hope for 2021, Politico reported this week.

Washington once again could learn from the people in cities and towns around the country, who gathered together to honor their World War I dead in their hometowns. Residents of the District of Columbia built an elegant memorial and bandstand in West Potomac Park in 1931 to honor the more than 26,000 District residents who served in World War I.

Almost every city and county in Virginia has a memorial to the local men and women who served in the First World War. The 240-foot tall Carillon in Richmond’s Byrd Park is the state’s memorial to the 3,700 Virginians who died in or because of World War I.

In Lynchburg, a “Doughboy” statue at the base of Monument Terrace remembers 43 casualties. A granite column outside Alexandria’s Union Station commemorates the city’s World War I dead.

There’s even a National World War I Museum and Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri. But not to include World War I with the memorials to other 20th century wars in Washington would be wrong.

Read the entire article on the richmond.com web site.

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