The National WWI Memorial

The National World War I Memorial at Pershing Park commemorates the service rendered by members of the United States Armed Forces in World War I. In 2013, Congress authorized the World War I Centennial Commission to develop the WWI Memorial in Pershing Park, located at 14th Street NW and Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, DC.

Located on America’s Main Street, just one block from the Washington Monument, the WWI Memorial offers opportunities for both personal reflection and public engagement.

Overlooking all is the Belvedere. It contains a series of panels on the history of the war, offers ways for visitors to access innovative World War I Memorial apps, and gives heartfelt credit to the generous donors who have helped make this vision a reality.

This is the only memorial in Washington, DC that includes space for the contemplation of peace. The Memorial’s Peace Fountain, facing west, is a waterfall flowing over “The Young Dead Soldiers Do Not Speak,” a poem by Archibald MacLeish.

In the southeast corner, the statue of John J. Pershing General of the Armies stands flanked by maps and descriptions of the major battles of the war.