Immediately after the armistice of November 11, 1918, a group of Kansas Citians gathered to propose a memorial to the men and women who served in the war and to those who died.
After three years of construction, the completed Liberty Memorial opened on November 11, 1926 –eight years after the end of the War. President Calvin Coolidge delivered the dedication speech, in which he spoke of how "the magnitude of this memorial, and the broad base of popular support on which it rests, can scarcely fail to excite national wonder and admiration." As you can see, the result was this stunning and monumental Art Deco tower that overlooks downtown Kansas City.
The World War I Museum is directly below the Liberty Memorial. To enter the museum you cross this glass bridge over the museum's field of poppies.
The poppy became the emblem of the First World War because of the poppies that bloomed across some of the worst battlefields of Flanders. Their red color is an appropriate symbol for the bloodshed of trench warfare. The poppies also inspired this very famous poem, written in 1917 by John McCrae, who died in the war one year later.
"In Flanders Fields"
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
Here is a photograph of a poppy field in Belgium.
And here is a picture of me from July of 2000, placing a poppy on the grave of an unknown soldier in France.
The museum exhibits contain objects and documents ranging from weaponry and uniforms used during the war, to letters and postcards from the field. The collection is quite extensive. I had been to several World War I museums and memorials when I was studying in Europe, and I think this one is just as good, if not better, than most of the museums I saw there. World War I was the first modern war with modern weaponry - tanks, gas, machine guns, barbed wire, airplanes, etc. The museum has examples of these weapons and explains their use. However, despite the modern weaponry, the war was fought with fairly traditional tactics. After just a few weeks the armies had to dig in and wait out the enemy. Thus began the trench warfare of this war of attrition. In additional to the artifacts and weapons in the museum, there are several recreated trenches that give a first hand look at the experiences of the trenches - the French's trenches were the worst.
I also took this photograph in France. I think I am standing in a trench looking out towards no-man's land. You can see how the land still undulates from the shells and bombs that exploded there almost 100 years ago.
The museum also has a room dedicated to the unfortunate outcomes of the war. Here I am contemplating the sad irony of the "War to End All Wars."
I'll leave you with the words of Wilfred Owen, another war poet who died in 1918 only one week before the Armistice."Anthem for Doomed Youth"
What passing bells for those who die as cattle?
Only the monstrous anger of the guns.
Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle
Can patter out their hasty orisons.
No mockeries for them from prayers or bells,
Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs,
The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells;
And bugles calling for them from sad shires.
What candles may be held to speed them all?
Not in the hands of boys, but in the eyes
Shall shine the holy glimmers of good-byes.
The pallor of girls' brows shall be their pall;
Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds,
And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.
- 1917
