National WWI Memorial — A Soldier’s Journey: First Illumination Ceremony
Published: 15 September 2024
By Doughboy Foundation Staff
Candles crop
Participants in the First Illumination Ceremony at the National World War I Memorial on September 13, 2024 hold candles during the event. (Left to Right) World War I Centennial Commission Chair Terry Hamby; World War I Centennial Commission Executive Director Daniel Dayton; Jeffrey P. Reinbold of the National Park Service; Reverend Dr. Margaret Grun Kibben; former Congressman Judge Ted Poe; former World War I Centennial Commission Vice Chair Edwin Fountain; National World War I Memorial Architect Joe Weishaar.
Current and former Commissioners of the United States World War I Centennial Commission gather in front of the A Soldiers Journey sculpture at the National World War I Memorial prior to the First Illumination ceremony on September 13, 2024. (Left to Right) Commission Chair Terry Hamby, appointed to the Commission by then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and elected Chair on September 13, 2017; former Chair Colonel Robert J. Dalessandro, USA (Ret.), appointed to the Commission by then-House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, resigned from the Commission in 2017; Commissioner Commander Zoe Dunning, USN (Ret.), appointed to the Commission by then-House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi; Commissioner Major General Alfred A. Valenzuela, USA (Ret.), appointed to the Commission by then-President Barack Obama; former Vice Chair Edwin L. Fountain, appointed to the Commission by then-Senate Majority Harry Reid, resigned from the Commission in 2019; Commissioner Monique Brouillet Seefried, Ph.D., appointed to the Commission by the then-Speaker of the House John Boehner; Commissioner Ambassador Theodore “Tod” Sedgwick, appointed to the Commission by then-President Barack Obama; Commissioner Dr. Libby O’Connell, appointed to the Commission by then-President Barack Obama; Commissioner Dr. Matthew Naylor, appointed to the Commission by the National World War I Museum and Memorial; Commissioner Debra Anderson, appointed to the Commission by the Veterans of Foreign Wars; and Commissioner Colonel Thomas Moe, USAF (Ret.), appointed to the Commission by then-Speaker of the House John Boehner. (Not in photo: Commissioner John D. Monahan, appointed to the Commission by the American Legion.) (Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Doughboy Foundation)
A view of the American flag during the First Illumination of “A Soldier’s Journey” At The National World War I Memorial September 13, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Doughboy Foundation)
Guests take their seats for the First Illumination of “A Soldier’s Journey” At The National World War I Memorial September 13, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Doughboy Foundation)
World War I reenactors prepare to participate the First Illumination of “A Soldier’s Journey” At The National World War I Memorial September 13, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Doughboy Foundation)
Buglers perform during the First Illumination of “A Soldier’s Journey” At The National World War I Memorial September 13, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Doughboy Foundation)
A segment of “A Soldier’s Journey” during the First Illumination at The National World War I Memorial September 13, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Doughboy Foundation)
Speakers during the First Illumination of “A Soldier’s Journey” At The National World War I Memorial September 13, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Left to Right) Daniel S. Dayton, Executive Director, WWI Centennial Commission; Rev. Dr. Margaret Grunn Kibben, Chaplain, U.S. House of Representatives; Edwin M. Fountain, former Vice-Chair, WWI Centennial Commission; Joseph Weishaar, Lead Designer, National WWI Memorial. (Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Doughboy Foundation) \
(Above and below) The audience views the First Illumination of “A Soldier’s Journey” At The National World War I Memorial September 13, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Doughboy Foundation)
Speakers during the First Illumination of “A Soldier’s Journey” At The National World War I Memorial September 13, 2024 in Washington, (Left to Right) Sabin Howard, Sculptor, “A Soldier’s Journey”; Terry Hamby, Chair, World War I Centennial Commission; Jeffrey Reinbold, Superintendent, National Mall and Memorial Parks; The Honorable Ted Poe, Former U.S. Congressman. (Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Doughboy Foundation)
Guests hold candles for the “Lights of Remembrance” during the First Illumination of “A Soldier’s Journey” At The National World War I Memorial September 13, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Doughboy Foundation)
Aux Morts, The Last Post, and Taps are sounded during the First Illumination of “A Soldier’s Journey” At The National World War I Memorial September 13, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Doughboy Foundation)
Dr. Libby Haight O’Connell reads the Archibald MacLeish poem “The Young Dead Soldiers Do Not Speak” at the end of the First Illumination of “A Soldier’s Journey” At The National World War I Memorial September 13, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Doughboy Foundation)
