The United States of America will mark the 100th anniversary of its entry into World War I during a national ceremony on April 6th, according to an announcement from the US WWI Centennial Commission.
The event is schedule to be held at the National World War I Museum and Memorial, exactly 100 years after Congress approved the declaration of war against Germany in 1917.
Dan Dayton, Executive Director of the Centennial Commission, says that the event is an important part of the national conversation about the war.
He says every American should care about the anniversary because every American is affected by it. The goal of the Commission is to help each person find their personal connection to the War.
The Commission has invited President Donald Trump and senior military and political leaders along with family members of veterans from the Great War and leaders of other countries involved in the fight.
Included in the ceremonies will be fly-pasts by US airplanes and the elite air display team, Patrouille de France.
The event is being called “In Sacrifice for Liberty and Peace: Centennial Commemoration of the U.S. Entry in World War I.” It will include readings from the speeches, journalism, literature and poetry about the decision to go to war 100 years ago.
President Woodrow Wilson had just been elected on a campaign that emphasized how he’d steered the US clear of the war. He entered the US in the war after the German navy sunk US ships during a period of unrestricted submarine warfare in 1917.
Dr. Monique Seefried is the World War I Centennial Commissioner. She said that it is important to understand the debate that was occurring about entering the war. The decision to go to war united the country for the first time in decades. The decisions after that led to the world we are living in today
Two million Americans were sent overseas. 116,516 of those servicemen were killed. That’s more than the Korean and Vietnam wars combined, Centenary News reported.
National World War I Museum and Memorial President and World War I president, Dr.
Matthew Naylor, said that it was fitting that the commemoration should take place at the site where millions of visitors have paid tribute for almost 100 years.