Gen. Armando Diaz

Commander in chief of the Italian army, Diaz was among the many World War I leaders to travel to Kansas City for the groundbreaking of the Liberty Memorial in 1921. He also visited the tomb of President Theodore Roosevelt to express his appreciation for the United States' contributions in the Great War. As reported by The New York Times, Diaz commented, "At the tomb of Roosevelt it is not fitting to make a speech, but only to express the deepest regard. At the tomb of Roosevelt, I pay tribute in the name of my government, in the name of the Italian people and in the name of my comrades in arms to one who in life was loved and in death adored."

Three years earlier, Diaz led a victorious Italian offensive in the final weeks of the war, destroying the Austro-Hungarian army and making him very popular at home. After the war, he served as Italy's minister of war. Retiring in 1924, he was named marshal. He died in 1928 in Rome, at 66.