District of Columbia World War Memorial

World War I began in 1914 as a small European conflict and quickly became a global war that introduced deadly new technologies, destroyed four empires, redrew borders, inaugurated mass genocide, and killed nine million people. Although President Woodrow Wilson tried to keep the United States neutral, the nation entered the war in 1917. From the District of Columbia, twenty-six thousand men and women answered the call to defend democracy, serving as soldiers in the segregated 172nd Infantry Regiment, as nurses for the American Red Cross, as pilots in the 11th Aero Squadron, and as sailors aboard the SS Aztec. Nearly 120,000 Americans had fallen by November 11, 1918, in places including the Argonne, Belleau Wood, and Cantigny, and nearly 500 Washingtonians who died in the war are named at the memorial’s base, including Private John A. Kimball, Major James E. Walker, Lieutenant, j.g. Stanton F. Kalk, and Major Allen M. Sumner. After congressional authorization in 1924, Frank B. Noyes led the District of Columbia’s World War Memorial Commission in raising donations from residents, schoolchildren, veterans groups, labor unions, and government officials. Local architects Frederick H. Brooke, Nathan C. Wyeth, and Horace W. Peaslee designed the simple Doric temple, and Washington’s John Baird Company built it. On November 11, 1931, thousands gathered on the National Mall for its dedication as President Herbert C. Hoover and General of the Armies John J. Pershing took part and John Philip Sousa led the United States Marine Band. From 1936 to the present, local veterans organizations have met there annually to honor the Great War service of 26,000 Washingtonians.

Washington, District of Columbia · United States