Groundbreaking for national Desert Storm memorial set for July 14

The groundbreaking ceremony for the newest monument on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. — a commemoration made possible, in part, thanks to the work of a former Indiana senator — is scheduled for mid-summer.

Veterans and other dignitaries are set to convene at 9 a.m. Region time July 14 to turn the first spades of dirt at what will become the National Desert Storm and Desert Shield Memorial.

The memorial will recognize the historical significance of the 1990-91 Persian Gulf War and honor the service and sacrifice of the U.S. military personnel, including some 60,000 Hoosiers, who led the effort to liberate Kuwait from Saddam Hussein's Iraqi invaders while defending Saudi Arabia and the Arabian Peninsula.

The final design of the memorial still is in the process of being finalized. Nevertheless, the National Park Service has granted the National Desert Storm Memorial Association permission to break ground at the memorial site on the southwest corner of Constitution Avenue and 23rd Street NW, just north of the Lincoln Memorial and west of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

Read more: https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/groundbreaking-for-national-desert-storm-memorial-set-for-july-14/article_655cbbec-a284-5601-8bd4-fdfbcfb324b2.html
(Northwest Indiana Times)


The federal law authorizing a Desert Shield/Desert Storm memorial was enacted in December 2014 by Democratic President Barack Obama. It was sponsored by U.S. Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind, now U.S. ambassador to the Holy See.