Friends of the National World War Ii Memorial

Education:in 2022, Friends of the National World War Ii Memorial continued to provide educational programs and resources. To this end, Friends hosted its seventh annual Friends of the World War Ii Memorial teachers network and conference. Due to the continuing effect of the worldwide pandemic, the five day conference was held virtually from july 18-22, 2022 and was attended by an average of 150 online participants daily. the conference theme was "untold stories of World War Ii and featured 15 expert presentations, a virtual tour of the World War Ii Memorial, and a remembrance ceremony. In 2022, Friends continued to host a monthly virtual education conference series to teach the lessons of yesterday to unite the generations of tomorrow. the series, featuring discussions with World War Ii veterans, educators, published authors, and other experts on a range of topics, is held on the third saturday of the month. Friends held six monthly virtual education conferences in 2022 (january-march and october-december).friends continued to coordinate in-person high school presentations by author, historian, and storyteller alex kershaw sharing heart-stopping stories about those who served in World War Ii and challenging students to ask themselves the same hard questions that confronted their forebears.the Friends of the National World War Ii Memorial's education programs are generously supported by the jack c. taylor / enterprise rent-a-car wwii Memorial education endowment.

Preservation:friends continued to lead the effort to add president franklin d. roosevelt's "d-day prayer", one of the largest mass prayers in history, to the wwii Memorial and to restore the "circle of remembrance" the area where the prayer will be placed. Senator robert portman (r-oh) introduced the bipartisan legislation, the World War Ii Memorial prayer act, which directed the secretary of the interior to install a plaque at or near the World War Ii Memorial in Washington, d.c. inscribed with the words of the prayer that president roosevelt shared with the nation on d-day, june 6, 1944. the legislation stipulated that no federal funds could be used to implement this directive. Therefore, Friends took on the responsibility of designing and funding the project. the project's design, by landscape architecture firm oehme, van sweden & associates (ovs), received its final approval from the commission of fine arts in january 2022. Thanks to the generous support of lilly endowment Inc., construction began on-site july 2022. A formal dedication ceremony will be on june 6, 2023. This is an important and meaningful addition that will complete the Memorial, which is visited by nearly five million people each year, providing a contemplative space to reflect on and remember the more than 400,000 american souls lost during wwii.friends worked with congresswoman marcy kaptur (d-oh), the "mother of the World War Ii Memorial", and congressman adam kinzinger (r-il) in the u.s. house of representatives and senators mike rounds (r-sd) and jeanne shaheen (d-nh) in the u.s. senate to pass bipartisan legislation in the house and senate that will raise private funds to help provide maintenance support of the World War Ii Memorial. President biden signed the bill into law on august 3, 2022. the greatest generation commemorative coin act authorizes the u.s. treasury to mint coins in 2024 in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the dedication of the National World War Ii Memorial in Washington, d.c. Proceeds from the sale of the commemorative coins will be used to maintain and repair the Memorial, as well as for robust educational and commemorative programming.

Commemorative:in cooperation with the National park service, Friends has the lead responsibility in planning, staging, and funding five major National commemorative events at the World War Ii Memorial on ve day, Memorial day, vj day, veterans day, and pearl harbor remembrance day. In addition, Friends annually hosts a d-day commemoration. the ceremonies are free and open to the public.friends presented the 2022 brigadier general charles e. mcgee unity award to former secretary of commerce and transportation the honorable norman y. mineta for mineta's lifelong public service as a military veteran, congressman, cabinet member, and advocate for noble causes in the pursuit of educating our youth about democracy and what it means to be an american citizen. the annual award is named for the late air force brigadier general charles e. mcgee, who embodied and lived by the highest american ideals during his 102-years. the unity award is a significant recognition of an individual or group actively working for the betterment of their community and beyond and for living up to the moral integrity espoused by general mcgee and his fellow members of the "greatest generation".

Legacy lecture:on november 9h, Friends held the tenth annual haydn williams World War Ii Memorial legacy lecture at the National defense university. Award-winning author ian toll lecture titled, pacific d-days, discussed the amphibious warfare in the pacific required sustained and intricate cooperation between the u.s. military services and the lessons they learned which remain vital to meet the challenges we face in the twenty-first century. the haydn williams World War Ii Memorial legacy lecture is an annual public lecture series that features preeminent historians and other experts speaking on the lasting significance and impact of World War Ii on america and the World.