'There's a doughboy here today'

Robert J. Dalessandro asked his fellow members of The American Legion to close their eyes Thursday morning and imagine for a moment the spirit of World War I, the veterans who founded what would become the nation’s largest veterans service organization, and their legacy.

“There’s a doughboy here today,” he told thousands gathered in Charlotte, N.C., for the 96th National Convention of The American Legion.

Chief of the U.S. Army Center for Military History and chairman of the U.S. World War I Centennial Commission, Dalessandro briefed those in attendance about a multi-year program to raise awareness of the World War I story, including ongoing Legion-supported efforts to memorialize the war in Washington, D.C. The commission supports the designation of the National World War I Museum and Memorial in Kansas City and redesignation of Pershing Park near the White House as the national World I Memorial, with enhancements, as U.S. entry into the war nears its 100th anniversary in 2017.

“At the commission, we have an ambitious multi-year program aimed at fostering awareness and educating the American public on the triumphs and the tragedies of this era,” said the member of American Legion Post 24 in Alexandria, Va. “Our goal is to commemorate the legacy of the mothers and the fathers – the parents who raised the Greatest Generation – the people who launched a new age and ultimately an American century.”

He explained that World War I claimed the lives of approximately 116,000 from the United States. “…more than Vietnam, more than Korea, more than Iraq, more than Afghanistan – all combined.”

The World War I veteran’s story needs to be told to new generations, he said. “There’s a doughboy here today, and he would ask that you take a moment for him. He would ask you to tell his story to your children and grandchildren. He would ask you to support a memorial in Washington, D.C., as the Legion already is, a place where you can take your children and grandchildren and share the doughboy’s story with them.

“If a doughboy were standing here today, he would ask you to support the World War I centennial. He would ask you to reach out to Congress and support the World War I Memorial in Pershing Park. He would ask you to support a World War I Centennial Coin Act. He would ask you to be involved through the centennial commission’s website.”