About WWI
ABOUT WORLD WAR ONE
World War I was a terrible global conflict that was fought between July
28, 1914, and November 11, 1918. Some fifty countries were involved in
fighting that spanned across Europe, Asia, and Africa, and on the seas
around the world. The United States entered the war on April 6, 1917.
During 18-months of American involvement, over four million Americans
served in the military, and two million of them deployed overseas.
116,516 American service members died during the war, and 204,00 more
were wounded. The United States played a significant role in the peace
afterward, helping to shape the Treaty of Versailles.
The war, and its aftermath, made enormous impact on the world - it
dramatically shifted national borders, it brought new technology to
industry and transportation, it changed attitudes toward women in the
workplace, and it created new movements in the arts. The war’s effects
are still with us, today, one hundred years later.
ABOUT THE NATIONAL WORLD WAR ONE MEMORIAL PROJECT
Since 1982, the United States has erected memorials in the nation’s
capital to the veterans of the three other great wars of the twentieth
century – Vietnam, Korea, and World War II. But there is no such
memorial in Washington to the veterans of World War I. The World War I
Centennial Commission believes the soldiers, sailors and marines of that
war deserve no less honor than that we have accorded their successors.
More American servicemen and women died during World War I than in Korea
and Vietnam combined; after our Civil War and World War II, World War I
was our country’s costliest war, in terms of lives lost.
The new national World War I memorial will be located on Pennsylvania
Avenue, “America’s Main Street,” one block from the White House
and overlooking the Capitol. The memorial will serve as both a dynamic
urban space and, more importantly, as a fitting memorial to a generation
of veterans whose service and sacrifice were no less valorous and heroic
than that of the veterans of later wars – a generation that were the
fathers and mothers of “the greatest generation.”
The twin goals of the World War I Centennial Commission are education
and commemoration – goals which go hand in hand. Over the next four
years of the centennial period (2014-18) the Commission will educate the
American people about a cataclysmic event in world history that began
“the American century,” a war that not only shaped the face of the
world for the next century to come, but that likewise changed the face
of American society. But education is inspired by commemoration, and
so the goal of this design competition is to achieve a timeless memorial
that will duly honor the service of America’s World War I veterans,
while inspiring Americans today and tomorrow to better understand this
profound event in our nation’s history.
ABOUT THE U.S. WORLD WAR ONE CENTENNIAL COMMISSION
The U.S World War One Centennial Commission is the United States
government’s official entity for marking the centennial of World War
One. The Commission was created by Congress via the World War One
Centennial Commission Act on January 16, 2013, and will exist from now
until 2019.
The Commission was created specifically to:
- Plan and execute commemorative programs and projects.
- Encourage private organizations and State and local governments to
organize and participate in commemorative activities.
- Facilitate and coordinate commemorative activities throughout the U.S.
- Establish clearinghouse for information about centennial events.
- Make commemoration recommendations to Congress and the President
In addition, the Commission has been authorized by Congress to create
the National World War One Memorial, in Pershing Park, a site near the
National Mall in Washington, DC. The memorial will honor the
courage, sacrifice, and devotion to country, of those who answered the
call to serve. The Memorial will be built using public donations.
You can follow the Commission’s activities on the web:
At our website http://worldwar1centennial.org/
On our Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ww1centennial
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