World War I Memorial Unveils 58-Foot Sculpture as Its Anchor

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.

Events 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. (More World War I stories.)