District of Columbia War Memorial

The Great War of 1914 to 1918 transformed the world by introducing lethal new technologies, inaugurating unparalleled battlefield slaughter, fostering mass genocide, taking nine million lives, unleashing history’s worst epidemic, sweeping away four empires, and redrawing international boundaries. The United States participated only in the war’s last year but lost over 125,000 men and women to combat, wounds, and disease. Donations from Washington, D.C., residents funded the design, construction, and dedication of a tribute to more than 26,000 Washingtonians who served in the Great War. In a manner atypical for that era, the names of the nearly 500 dead appear in alphabetical order regardless of rank, race, gender, or ethnicity. On Armistice Day 1931, native residents such as famed band director John Philip Sousa joined temporary residents such as President Herbert Hoover and General of the Armies John J. Pershing to dedicate what was then known as the District of Columbia World War Memorial.

Washington, District of Columbia · United States