By Dewey Terrill
JC Post
CW3 (Ret) Phyllis Fitzgerald, Executive Director of the Society of the First Infantry Division has announced that there will be a Memorial Day Weekend Service at the First Division Monument in Washington D.C. on Sunday May 26th beginning at 11:00 am (Eastern Time).
They will be unveiling the names (631) of 1st Infantry Division Soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan to the monument, unveiling of a new Desert Storm plaque and laying of a wreath. It is also the 100th Anniversary of the First Division Monument.
The First Division Monument was erected by the Society of the First Division and dedicated by President Calvin Coolidge on October 4, 1924. All funds for the original monument and its later additions were raised privately by the Society. No federal money was used to build the monument. Today the National Park Service maintains the monument grounds.
The center column surmounted by a statue of Victory comprised the original monument. It was the first memorial to be built in Washington, D.C. in commemoration of the efforts of the Soldiers who fought in World War I. Bronze plaques on the pedestal near the base of the column list the names and units of the 5,516 First Division Soldiers who were killed in that conflict. A ground level plaque on the North side of the column lists the units comprising the First Division AFE, later the First Division.
The architect of the original monument was Cass Gilbert. The sculptor of the Victory statue was Daniel Chester French, who also created the statue for the Lincoln Memorial.
The World War II addition to the monument was erected to the West of the center column and dedicated on August 24, 1957. Bronze plaques on either side of the center stone lists, by unit, the names of the 4,325 First Infantry Division Soldiers killed in that war. A bronze plaque in the pavement at the base of the center stone lists the units comprising the First Infantry Division at the time.
The Vietnam Addition to the monument was dedicated on August 20, 1977. It is a mirror image of the World War II addition and located on the East side of the terrace. Bronze plaques on either side of the center stone lists, by unit, the names of the 3,079 First Infantry Division Soldiers killed in the Vietnam War. A bronze plaque on the pavement at the base lists the units comprising the First Infantry Division during that war.
The Desert Storm stone, on the Vietnam side was dedicated on May 29, 1995, and lists the names of the Divisions 27 dead in that war, including the first female and first contract civilian killed under the Colors of the Big Red One.
*The new addition includes the addition of three granite plinths to the East Wing to hold the plaques containing name, rank and unit of each Soldier killed in action from Desert Storm (27 names), Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn (439 total ), and Operation Enduring Freedom (192 names). They also added Three Granite Plinths on the West Wing that could hold plaques of Big Red One Soldiers soldiers killed in action in future wars.