This Sunday I will forego my usual FYI of obscure info and write about something that has taken a very long time coming.

The Great War…..1914-1918….also known as World War One.

Hundred and Six years after the fact the US finally has a memorial to those souls that fought in that horrible war.

World War I casualties
The total number of military and civilian casualties in World War I, was around 40 million.
There were 20 million deaths and 21 million wounded. The total number of deaths includes 9.7 million military personnel and about 10 million civilians. The Entente Powers (also known as the Allies) lost about 5.7 million soldiers while the Central Powers lost about 4 million.

What was the US totals?

United States had sustained more than 320,000 casualties in the First World War, including over 53,000 killed in action, over 63,000 non-combat related deaths, mainly due to the influenza pandemic of 1918, and 204,000 wounded.

Think about this…those totals were for approximately 6 months of actual engagement with the enemy.

I bring all this up because there has been very little said these days about this war….it has slipped from memory since there is NO one left to keep the memories alive.

But that has changed (at least I hope it has)….

A 58-foot-long bronze sculpture was unveiled Friday evening as the centerpiece of the National World War I Memorial in Washington, blocks from the White House. “A Soldier’s Journey” follows an unnamed doughboy from the moment he takes his helmet from his daughter and ships out for duty. It traces him through scenes of war, with soldiers fighting alongside nurses tending their injuries, and culminates in a homecoming, the Washington Post reports. “It is a project that represents the everyman, the ones who make this country possible,” said Sabin Howard, the artist.

vents over the weekend will celebrate the unveiling, including musical performances, war reenactments, and displays of World War I vehicles, per NPR. The site, which was dedicated in 2021, incorporated an existing memorial to commanding Gen. John J. Pershing; the Army Band known as “Pershing’s Own” played the national anthem on Friday. The effort to get the memorial to this point took years, made more difficult by the length of time that has passed since the war. A volunteer commission tracked down troops’ family members, lined up donors, and signed up former presidents as honorary co-chairs.

The memorial, in a park at 14th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, includes a peace fountain with an excerpt from Archibald MacLeish’s poem “The Young Dead Soldiers Do Not Speak.” The World War I Centennial Commission said the sculpture, which Howard created over the course of a decade with architect Joe Weishaar, is the largest free-standing high-relief bronze in the Western Hemisphere.

As I said About time….this war has been ignored for way too long.

For anyone that is interested there is a documentary that is excellent…

“Haunting,” “heartbreaking,” and “honest,” are just a few words being used to describe They Shall Not Grow Old, Peter Jackson’s documentary compiled from century-old World War I footage. For 21st-century audiences, Jackson adds 3D technology, color, and soldiers’ voices to give the scenes new life.

This was the beginning of the wars they the US keeps fighting….

That is it for me for this Sunday.

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“lego ergo scribo”