On April 29, 2004, as a service and tribute to members of the World War II Generation, the National World War II Memorial opened for public viewing, exactly one month prior to the formal Dedication Ceremony taking place May 29, 2004. The World War II Memorial is the first national memorial dedicated to all who served during the Second World War. The memorial, established by the American Battle Monuments Commission, honors all military veterans of the war, the citizens on the home front, the nation at large, and the high moral purpose and idealism that motivated the nation's call to arms. The Second World War is the only 20th-century event commemorated on the Mall's central axis.
Today we give thanks to the generation that asked nothing in return.