Be a part of our memorial inventory project

As The American Legion nears its centennial year, I’m calling on all posts, districts, counties, areas, zones, departments and affiliates of the organization to help build an unparalleled database of memorials and monuments that honor U.S. military service and sacrifice. The database can be found at www.legion.org/memorials.

With the Legion’s memorials database project, it is important to assess the conditions of these memorials – whether it’s a plaque in the park listing a county’s war dead or a well-known community statue or plaza. What better way to commemorate the Legion’s centennial than to spruce up, repair and revive awareness to those who served before us, whose memorials and monuments may be showing the effects of age and weather? It’s also the perfect time for communities to reacquaint themselves with the meaning of their memorials.

The American Legion Memorial Inventory Project is not focused on any one war era. We know that Legion posts care for memorials ranging from the Revolution to the Global War on Terrorism, all around the world. In order to ensure their continued respect and protection, we have to index them and bring attention to their original and intended meaning.

The web platform asks for the location of the memorial, a description of it, date of installation if known and a rating of its condition. Uploaders are also strongly encouraged to take photos of the memorial and post them onto the database.

We know that in virtually every corner of the country, and beyond our shores, Legion Family members have paid tribute to military service, honor and remembrance by carving out sacred spaces in their communities to ensure that the price paid for freedom is not lost on future generations.