LARGEST - World War II Memorial in the United States
N 41° 48.145 W 124° 05.106
10T E 409856 N 4628407
Spreading out over 5000 acres, the National Tribute Grove, dedicated in 1949, is the largest World War II memorial in the United States.
Waymark Code: WMZ454
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 09/07/2018
Views: 3
Located in the Jedediah Smith State Park campground day use area is a boulder containing a plaque that reads:
THIS UNIT OF 500 ACRES IN THE
NATIONAL TRIBUTE GROVE
IS PRESERVED THROUGH THE
NATIONAL SOCIETY
DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
TO HONOR THOSE WHO SERVED IN THE ARMED FORCES
OF THE UNITED STATES IN WORLD WAR II
AND TO KEEP INVIOLATE THESE PRIMEVAL SEQUOIAS
AS AN AMERICAN HERITAGE
1949 |
NOTE* The marker mentions 500 acres of preserved Redwoods which was dedicated as the final remaining grove of trees purchased by the Save the Redwoods League and gave a final tally of 5,000 acres that had been preserved in 1949.
The marker is located in the Jedediah Smith State Park and in the Day Use portion of the park (north of the campground). A day use fee of $8 is required if visitors stay to tour the park area. No fee is required if only passing through or visiting this monument.
The 5,000 acre National Tribute Grove is located south of this marker and across the Smith River and not readily accessible by visitors as there are no roads or trails to the grove. After talking with a park ranger at the nearby visitor center, it is understood that this grove of old growth sequoias is to remain inaccessible for the most part to the general public in order to preserve its primeval status.
The following is text taken from the Save the Redwoods League website which published an article on September 26, 2014 to highlight this memorial:
Largest WWII Memorial in U.S. Rediscovered in the Redwoods
September 26, 2014
In 1945, with victory in Europe and Japan within sight, individuals and organizations all across the country united in a nationwide effort to preserve 5,000 acres of old-growth redwoods as the National Tribute Grove. The effort, led by Save the Redwoods League and aided by the Garden Club of America, would honor the 16.1 million men and women who served in America’s Armed Forces during World War II.
Thousands of people and organizations from all 48 states and the territories of Alaska and Hawaii contributed to help fund the National Tribute Grove in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, with the name of each donor recorded in a “Golden Book” in the National Archives, along the names of the soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen their contributions honor.
The grove was dedicated 65 years ago, on September 25, 1949. At the dedication ceremony, Newton Drury, who was then director of the National Park Service after having led the League for many years, spoke for all Americans when he said the National Tribute Grove was to be known as an ever-living “memorial of eternal gratitude, eternally expressed” to those men and women who served in the armed forces of the United States in World War II and so preserved American freedom.
According to the National Park Service, the National Tribute Grove is the largest WWII memorial in America. But, the grove was lost to near-obscurity for many years, as road changes and vegetation growth hid the marker in shadows.
The grove marker was recently unveiled and rededicated in a new location in the park’s day use area, so that this unparalleled monument to our veterans will be remembered and appreciated for generations to come.
There is an excellent interactive timeline of the history of the Redwoods and the movements over the years to preserve the last remaining old-growth timber in the Pacific Northwest and provided by the Save the Redwoods League.
Another article by the National Parks Traveler highlights the rededication of the National Tribute Grove in 2014 and an exceprt reads:
A Living Monument to WWII Veterans
"The National Tribute Grove is not only the nation's largest World War II monument, it's the only living monument to World War II veterans," Poole noted. "The founders of the National Tribute Grove were not only impressed by the trees' longevity, but their hardiness," he said.
"The founders of these groves could look at the redwoods and see these burnt and twisted and broken trees that have basically survived combat with nature," Poole said. "They thought it was very fitting for veterans that having gone through war and experiencing everything that was bad about war, here you could see these trees that have done the same thing and have survived and have now become this wonderful cathedral."