From the President: Monument Facelift

[Photo: (L to R) Ed Burke, exec. dir., Gordon Sullivan, president and Jay Oliphant, general contractor observe the work being done on the 1st Division Memorial in Washington, DC.]

The center section of the Memorial, which has been featured on the back cover of our Society calendar for the last two years, was erected by our WWI veterans to commemorate the First Division’s accomplishments in WWI and honor their dead comrades. Funds came entirely from the members of the division and their friends. Dedicated in 1924 by President Calvin Coolidge, it features the magnificent figure of Victory atop the central column by world-renowned sculptor Daniel Chester French, who also did the figure of Lincoln on the Lincoln Memorial and many other famous monuments. Plaques around the base of the central column list the names of the division’s 5516 dead in that war, by unit.

In 1955 it was decided to add a terrace and wing on the west side of the memorial to commemorate the division’s service in WWII and honor its 4325 dead of that war. Again, the money for construction was raised privately. This section was dedicated at the Society reunion in 1957.

In August of 1974 President Ford signed a bill authorizing the construction of a terrace and wing on the east side of the monument to memorialize the division’s 3079 dead in the Vietnam War. Once again, the Society led a fund raising drive to secure funds for construction. The Vietnam wing was dedicated in 1977.

In 1995, a granite stone and bronze plaque was added on the east side of the memorial to honor the division’s 27 dead, including its first female soldier, of the Gulf War.

Incidentally, the legacy that I have just briefly recounted tells it all. The torch passes from generation to generation but the Spirit of the 1st Infantry Division lives on and will never die – always nurtured by the honor, sacrifice and deeds of our forbearers.

The facelift will be a complete, thorough job – worthy of the Big Red One and of this magnificent testimonial to our division’s deeds and the sacrifice of our soldiers. The statue of Victory has been stripped, primed and re-gilded with 23 3/4 carat gold leaf. All marble and granite surfaces have been pressure washed. All of the bronze tablets have been cleaned and waxed. The exposed aggregate concrete walkways will be removed and replaced. The granite banding stones around the walkways will be removed and re-laid. All spaces between stones and steps will be caulked. The spaces between the cobblestones will be re-pointed. Finally, the letters “The First Division” on the outside of the west wing and the letters on the WWII and Vietnam dedication stones will also be gilded in gold leaf.

[Photo: The newly renovated 1st Division Memorial in Washington, DC.]

We plan to recognize this achievement during our usual ceremony on Veteran’s Day in November and with a reception afterward. Join us then!

Duty First,

Sullivan

"From the President" is a regular feature in the Bridgehead Sentinel.