Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-03-14
Joins
70 Rae
Tempo
State Dept. Post
Cites Building
Hiding Memorial

announced yesterday It has
adopted q resolution calling for
the removal Of the temporary
building hiding the Districts
War Memorial.
1t linked failure to remove the
offending structure with desecra.
ton Of the memory Of the heroic
dead. The temporary" building
erected in West Potomac Park
IL years ago. lies along the south
bank Of the rejecting pool east
Of the Lincoln Memorial.
The State Department Post
resolution was adopted at the
posts regular meeting Wednes-
day night. Its action backs that
Of the Rev. William B. Adams,
commander. of the District De-
partment of the American
Legion. He has called for the
razing Of the unsightly tempo
before the Legion holds its ma
tional convention here August
20 to September 3.
Head Of the State Department
Post Is Ben H. Brown, jr., and
the adjutant, who made the res
olution public is w. Ardell Stelck.
Text of Resolution.
Commanders of two other
posts likewise have pressed for
removal OF the offending build
ing. They are Glenn w. Seit.
Finger, commander of the Sergt.
Jasper Post No. Is, and James
kee. commander of Housing
Post No. Sc.
The text Of the State De-
partment Posts resolution:
Whereas. the District of Co.
lumbia World War Memorial
was erected by the grateful citi-
zens OF Washington in memory
OF those who made the supreme
sacrifice for God and country.
and,
whereas. several years later
a national emergency necessi-
tated the erection of a tempo
rary building in the vicinity of
the District Of Columbia me-
mortal which is still classified
as a temporary structure, and.
Whereas, it is the belief of
this group that the word tenn
porary' begins to lose it's mean
ing after 5 or 10 years. and,
whereas. the porary
building obstructs the view of
the District Of Columbia World
War Memorial and tends to des-
ecrate the memory of Washing
tons heroic dead, and,
Whereas, the people of Wash
lngton and the thousands of
visitors to our Nations Capital.
should have the opportunity to
enjoy the beauty of the memorial
in its original setting, not now
possible due to the unsightly
tempo which disrupts the SYM
metry of the District of Colum-
bla Memorial. the park PROM
enade, the Lincoln Memorial, the
rejecting pool. and the i'm
mediate area, and,
Whereas. Department of the
District of Columbia Commander
William B. Adams has taken the
commendable step of calling for
the removal of this building in
the very near future, now, there
fore,
BE it resolved that Depart
ment OF State Post No. 68 heart
lily Endorses Commander Adams
actions and indicates its sup
port of his endeavors to have
this building removed before the
national convention of the
American Legion meets in WASH
lngton August % to Septem-
Der g."
Emergency Is Over.
Mr.. Seitzinger said members
OF Sergt. Jasper Post support
the move to rae the temporary
building and added:
In an emergency such as we
faced in 1912 when we were
attacked there could be no OBJ
lection to erecting emergency
buildings even though they hid
such a memorial. But now we
are at peace. as we call it. and
the memorial should be disclosed
again to public view.
When the convention meets
here there will be many who
have never before been to Wash
ington who will come here. There
will be many members who are
veterans of World War I and
their families. They should be
able to have a good view of that
memorial"
Veterans Should Be Proud.
Mr. Kee. speaking for Housing
Post No. Sc, said:
"All veterans should feel proud
and quite humble that for the
first time in history the District
is to be host to the American
Legion national convention.
Probably the very first func-
ton Of the convention will be
pilgrimage to the Tomb of the
Unknown Soldier. 1t will be the
first time many OF the veterans
will have an opportunity to go
there.
Many will want to visit the
memorial to their comrades
which the District erected.
think it will be a shame if we
have to draw a diagram in order
to explain to the visitors how to
get thereto the monument that
memorialiZes the men of Wash
ington who served and who gave
their lives on the field of battle"
L.