May 31, 2018

Legion memorial database passes 2,000 mark

By The American Legion
Honor & Remembrance
Legion memorial database passes 2,000 mark
The Canadian County War Memorial, located on the second floor of the Canadian County Courthouse in El Reno, Okla. (Photo via Greg James)

Feat took 18 months.

Just before Memorial Day, the American Legion Veterans Memorial Identification Project database notched its 2,000th entry – and beyond. It was released to the public in November 2016, after a resolution by the National Executive Committee.

The project encourages American Legion Family members to locate, document, photograph and upload information about veterans memorials and monuments in their local areas. Sites from any war era are welcome. The page is designed to easily upload photos and information via smartphones, even while at the site. This makes it easier to do multiple submissions at one time, as Legion Family and associated community groups comb an area for sites. Entries will be made public after review.

Key points for each submission include:

• A photo or photos (required), of the memorial with no people around

• Location, mapped if possible

• Purpose, such as who it honors and why, in a sentence or two

• Date of installation and who originally installed it

• A brief assessment of its condition today

Most of the states, and a dozen foreign countries, are represented in the database; users can search by state to see what has already been submitted before embarking on recording expeditions. The most recently added are listed first.

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