Monuments to World War I soldiers have been restored and will be rededicated inside Mammoth Cave National Park on August 30/NPS

Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky will host a rededication of two Great War Monuments on August 30, with local veterans’ organizations assisting with the ceremony.

“Two monuments were placed inside Mammoth Cave in the 1920s to honor the soldiers who died in the World War I, or as it was known at the time, the Great War,” said Superintendent Barclay Trimble. “The horrors of the Great War stunned the world, and the common hope was that there would never be another like it. The American Legion and American War Mothers selected Mammoth Cave as a timeless place to recognize the soldiers who died during that devastating conflict.”

On August 30, 1922, as part of the American Legion Convention in Louisville, Kentucky, a monument was placed inside Mammoth Cave to honor the fallen of the Great War. Inside the monument, 35 states each placed a list of the fallen soldiers from their respective states. In 1929, a second monument was placed by the America War Mothers to also honor the fallen of the Great War. 

The monuments were temporarily removed from the park for restoration and are now ready to be returned to their original location in the Rotunda, inside the Historic Entrance of Mammoth Cave. 

The rededication ceremony will begin at 9 a.m. on August 30 in front of the visitor center as the flag is raised for the day. Then the Barren County High School JROTC will lead the attendees to the Historic Entrance and into the cave.  At the Rotunda, the monuments will be rededicated, and the program will conclude with the playing of “Taps” by the Disabled American Veterans Chapter 20.