Two Vietnam War veterans pay tribute to those recognized on the Vietnam War Memorial in the Court of Honor at Soldiers Memorial Military Museum.
Standing near the corner of Market and 13th streets on Oct. 14, 1936, President Franklin Roosevelt dedicated St. Louis’ Soldiers Memorial. Established after the “War to End All Wars,” it was originally a memorial to remember those who lost their lives in World War I. The centerpiece of the memorial is a black granite cenotaph (empty tomb) in the memorial’s loggia engraved with the names of 1,072 St. Louisans who made the supreme sacrifice.
In his remarks, President Roosevelt reminded us that Soldiers Memorial Military Museum serves many purposes for the community. It is a direct tribute to those who have served and those we have lost. At the same time, the memorial demands that the living fulfill their responsibilities to each other. Roosevelt rightly proclaimed: “Here at home is the call to service, too.”
Roosevelt said that, “Inequalities in our social order call for correction. A true patriotism urges us to build an even more substantial America where the good things of life may be shared by more of us, where the social injustices will not be encouraged to flourish.”
Following Roosevelt’s original dedication, the nation engaged in additional wars in repeated attempts to ensure national security at home and freedom and democracy across the globe. In each of these conflicts, St. Louis sent its brave young men and women who embodied the spirit of courage and sacrifice. Many made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation.
To recognize these individuals, a “Court of Honor” was established at Soldiers Memorial. Within that court, memorials were established in a style similar to the original World War I cenotaph.
In 1979, the city of St. Louis dedicated a memorial to those who had recently given their lives in service in the Vietnam War. Located within the Court of Honor at Soldiers Memorial, the Vietnam War memorial displays the engraved names of 214 St. Louis city and county service members killed in Southeast Asia during the war.
The newest exhibition at Soldiers Memorial “Vietnam: At War and At Home,” explores the history of service that St. Louis and St. Louisans displayed during that war. During research for the exhibition, an additional 254 St. Louisans who gave their lives in the war were identified.
This Memorial Day, May 29, at 10 a.m., the Vietnam War memorial at Soldiers Memorial will be re-dedicated with the newly engraved names of those 254 individuals. After many years, these individuals will be rightfully recognized with a public, permanent tribute to the supreme sacrifice that they made in the Vietnam War.
Additionally, the rededication will call all of us together, to not only recognize and remember those who have passed, but to remind the public of its own responsibilities of service to each other and our nation — in whatever form that may take. May the people come together to remember these brave individuals who gave their all and let’s recommit to each other to live up to the standards of service and selflessness that they displayed.
For more information, visit mohistory.org/memorial.
