Do More Good | World War One Centennial Commission
On April 6, 1917, the United States entered World War One (WWI). With this decision, more than 4 million men and women would serve in the armed services with 2,800,000 serving overseas. In six months of brutal combat, more than 205,000 American servicemen and women would either be killed or wounded, exceeding all of those who suffered the same fate in the Korean and Vietnam wars.
America’s decision to enter WWI, apart from ending a global conflict that would claim the lives of more than 37 million combatants and civilians, had consequences whose implications resonate to this very day. Many of the formative events of the 20th century, the civil rights and suffrage movements, our modern banking and economic system, our rise as a military power and the current political situation in the Middle East, all are directly related to President Wilson’s decision to place Americans in harm’s way to defend freedom abroad.
Established by an act of the 112th Congress and signed into law by President Obama, the United States WWI Centennial Commission was created to educate Americans regarding the causes and consequences of WWI, commemorate those events that ultimately shaped us as a nation, and honor those men and women who served our country.
Chaired by the current living presidents of the United States, the WWI Centennial Commission is responsible for raising funds for the WWI Memorial in Washington, D.C., to be located in Pershing Park, along Pennsylvania Avenue adjacent to the southeast gates of The White House. This memorial, sculpted by world renowned artist Sabin Howard, will provide a fitting tribute to the unprecedented sacrifice of those Americans whose actions conclusively ended a world war.
“The work of the WWI Centennial Commission will help all Americans to better understand, and honor the memory of those who served in WWI, the war that changed the world from April 7, 1917 to September 11, 2001,” says Daniel S. Dayton, Head of the WWI Centennial Commission.
To learn more about WWI and the WWI Centennial Commission’s mission check out this video.