Page 7 - Aerotech News and Review – November 2024: Veterans Day Special Edition

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SCULPTURE, from Page 6
Avenue, just steps from the White House.
In 2013, Congress authorized the U.S. World War I Centennial Commission to establish a na- tional memorial honoring those who served in World War I.
The memorial first opened in April 2021, and Friday’s il- lumination ceremony marked the completion of the decade- spanning endeavor to honor those who served and the 116,516 U.S. service members who lost their lives in the first war to engulf the entire world.
In addition to the sculpture, the memorial features a statue of U.S. Army Gen. John J. Persh- ing, who commanded the Ameri- can Expeditionary Force during World War I, and a 10-foot-high wall containing battle maps from the war. It also houses the Peace Fountain, a water cascade on the reverse side of the wall bearing A Soldier’s Journey that bears text from Archibald MacLeish’s poem “The Young Dead Soldiers.”
Terry W. Hamby, chairman of the World War I Centennial Commission, said the memorial “comes to life in a way that few memorials could” with completion of the sculpture.
“The startling realism and
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epic scale of this sculpture serve as a testament to the courage and dedication of every soldier who has served and continues to serve,” he said. “It captures the essence of their journey, the challenges they face, the strength they exhibit, the spirit that drives them forward and those they left behind and fought to return home to.”
In addition to the first illumina- tion of the sculpture, last week’s dedication also included perfor- mances by the United States Army Band and the sounding of taps by buglers organized by the Doughboy Foundation, a group created to serve as a steward of the monument alongside the commission.
Members of the public lined the perimeter of Pershing Park, the site of the memorial, during the ceremony.
Nick Watts, a 20-year-old stu- dent at Xavier University, flew with his father from Ohio to at- tend the ceremony.
“I think World War I, especially, needs this sculpture because people often don’t know a lot of details about it,” Watts said.
He said he has been interested in World War I history since child- hood, which his parents have encouraged and supported.
In 2017, he organized a gather-
Navy photograph by PO2 Zachary Wheeler
A 58-foot-long bronze sculpture titled A Soldier’s Journey is unveiled during an illumination ceremony at the National World War I Memorial in Washington, Sept. 13, 2024.
ing for his classmates to mark the100th anniversary of the United States entering the war. He and his parents also flew to Washington for the centennial in November 2018.
After watching the illumination, he said he was moved by the level
of detail and the story captured by the sculpture.
“I think it does justice to how much our country sacrificed dur- ing the war,” he said.
Watts’ interest in the war has stuck with him through college. He’s enrolled in Xavier’s Phi-
losophy, Politics and the Public program, a four-year, interdisci- plinary, honors-track study that encompasses his interests in his- tory and politics.
“Events like these just inspire me to keep learning more,” he said. “You can never learn enough.”
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