American Legion Memorial II
Photography by Jeff Osborne
This Tennessee marble monument holds a 2-1/2 foot high by six-foot-long bronze tablet. The bronze panel illustrates twenty-two figures of American soldiers entering a ruined French village, as wounded French soldiers and refugees leave. The lead American soldier is saluting the wounded French soldier leading the villagers.
Across the top of the monument are inscribed the words:
DEDICATED BY KANSAS CITY TO THE AMERICAN LEGION POSTS.
At the dedication services in Swope Park in 1921 sixteen uniformed legionnaires uncovered the fountain draped in an American flag. The presentation of the fountain was by Alderman George Harrington and the dedication address was given by John W. Inzer, national chaplain of the legion.
A drinking fountain was originally included in this monument but is no longer operational. The location of this monument, just east of the main entrance gates of Swope Park and at the edge of the Eib Garden, offers exceptional and expansive views across the park and beyond. Adjacent to the monument is the Jacob Loose Flagpole, once the tallest un-guyed flagpole in the country.
