In honor of Veterans Day, the National Register of Historic Places encourages Americans to seek solace and inspiration from the Nation's parks, monuments and memorials, many of which are premiere listings in the National Register of Historic Places. We are pleased to commemorate Veterans Day by showcasing historic places listed in the National Register, National Register publications, National Park units, and links to related websites that recognize and pay tribute to America's veterans.

Liberty Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri Photograph courtesy of Cookiecaper, through Wikimedia.org

Liberty Memorial,
Kansas City, Missouri
Liberty memorial was designated the National World War One Museum of the United States. Read the story of the building of this memorial to honor those who sacrificed their lives during World War I and a remembrance of those who survived.

Teaching With Historic Places
Lesson plans that focus on American veterans, war memorials, and modern armed forces of the United States:

Revolutionary War:

• The Battle of Bennington: An American Victory
• The Battle of Bunker Hill: Now We Are at War
• The Battle of Oriskany: "Blood Shed a Stream Running Down"
• Guilford Courthouse: A Pivotal Battle in the War for Independence
• Saratoga: The Tide Turns on the Frontier

Dayton National Cemetery, featured in A Nation Repays Its Debt: The National Soldiers' Home and Cemetery in Dayton, Ohio Courtesy U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

Civil War:


• A Nation Repays Its Debt: The National Soldiers' Home and Cemetery in Dayton, Ohio
• Andersonville: Prisoner of War Camp
• The Battle of Bentonville: Caring for Casualties of the Civil War
• The Battle of Glorieta Pass: A Shattered Dream
• The Battle of Honey Springs: The Civil War Comes to the Indian Territory
• The Battle of Mill Springs: The Civil War Divides a Border State
• The Battle of Stones River: The Soldiers' Story
• Choices and Commitments: The Soldiers at Gettysburg
• First Battle of Manassas: An End to Innocence
• Fort Morgan and the Battle of Mobile Bay
• Fort Pickens and the Outbreak of the Civil War
• Not to Be Forgotten: Camp Chase Confederate Cemetery
• The Siege of Port Hudson:
  "Forty Days and Nights in the Wilderness of Death"
• These Honored Dead:
  The Battle of Rivers Bridge and Civil War Combat Casualties

World War I:


• Woodrow Wilson: Prophet of Peace

World War II:


• Attu: North American Battleground of World War II
• The Battle of Midway: Turning the Tide in the Pacific
• Floyd Bennett Field: Naval Aviation's Home in Brooklyn
• Liberty Ships and Victory Ships, America's Lifeline in War
• Remembering Pearl Harbor: The USS Arizona Memorial

Cold War:

• Minuteman Missle National Historic Site: Protecting a Legacy of the Cold War (128)
  

Travel Itineraries
The Discover our Shared Heritage series highlights many properties that reflect the impact veterans have made in American history.

World War II in the San Francisco Bay Area
World War II dominated the social, economic and political landscapes of the mid-20th century, setting in motion momentous events that still shape the world we live in today. The communities that ring the San Francisco Bay were irrevocably altered by that wartime era and still bear its visible marks in the remains of military bases and coastal defense fortifications, ships and shipbuilding facilities, worker housing and day-care facilities. This travel itinerary highlights 31 historic places that reflect the San Francisco Bay Area's role in the "Arsenal of Democracy."

Indianapolis, Indiana
This itinerary features historic properties in Indianapolis, including the Indiana World War Memorial Plaza Historic District. This beautiful plaza The plaza comprises six aligned square city blocks of monumental public architecture and landscape architecture, united into a cohesive whole.

Journey Through Hallowed Ground: Route 15 in Virginia's Piedmont
This itinerary features historic places in a scenic and historically rich landscape that has "soaked up more of the blood, sweat, and tears of American history than any other part of the country," according to the late historian C. Vann Woodward. Sites in this itinerary include Manassas National Battlefield Park, site of the opening engagement of the Civil War, the home of Confederate Lieutenant General Ambrose Powell Hill, Ball's Bluff Battlefield and National Cemetery, Culpeper National Cemetery, and the home of General George C. Marshall, Army chief of staff during World War II.

Kingston, New York
During the American Revolution, the small town of Kingston, New York, twice appeared as a key location in numerous historical accounts; once as the meeting point for New York politicians, and once as the focal point of British retaliation.

Washington, DC
No other city pays as grand a tribute to America's veterans as does our nation's capital. Historic sites such as the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, Arlington Memorial and House, the Marine Barracks, and the Woodrow Wilson House, remind us of the dedication of American soldiers throughout our history.

Featured Park: The Minute Man National Historical Park, located in Concord, MA, commemorates the day when British regulars clashed with colonial militia and minute men on April 19, 1775. The fighting that began that day soon grew into a war for independence that lasted more than eight years. Many years later, Ralph Waldo Emerson used the phrase "the shot heard round the world" to describe the significance of this event.

Revolutionary War:
• Boston National Historical Park
• Colonial National Historical Park: Yorktown
• Cowpens National Battlefield
• Fort Stanwix National Monument
• George Rogers Clark National Historical Park
• Guilford Courthouse National Military Park
• Independence National Historical Park
• Kings Mountain National Military Park
• Longfellow National Historic Site
• Minute Man National Historical Park
• Moores Creek National Battlefield
• Morristown National Historical Park
• Ninety Six National Historic Site
• Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail
• Saint Paul's Church National Historic Site
• Saratoga National Historical Park
• Valley Forge National Historical Park

War of 1812:
• Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine
• Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial

Mexican War
• Palo Alto Battlefield National Historic Site

Civil War:
• Andersonville National Historic Site
• Antietam National Battlefield
• Appomattox Court House National Historical Park
• Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial
• Brices Cross Roads National Battlefield Site
• Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park
• Cumberland Gap National Historical Park
• Fort Donelson National Battlefield
• Fort Pulaski National Monument
• Fort Scott National Historic Site
• Fort Sumter National Monument
• Fort Union National Monument
• Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County Battlefields Memorial National Military Park
• General Grant National Memorial
• Gettysburg National Military Park
• Harpers Ferry National Historical Park
• Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park
• Manassas National Battlefield Park
• Monocacy National Battlefield
• Petersburg National Battlefield
• Richmond National Battlefield Park
• Shiloh National Military Park
• Stones River National Battlefield
• Tupelo National Battlefield
• Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site
• Vicksburg National Military Park
• Wilson's Creek National Battlefield

World War I:
• Woodrow Wilson: Prophet of Peace

World War II:
• American Memorial Park
• Eisenhower National Historic Site
• Golden Gate National Recreation Area
• Harry S. Truman National Historic Site
• Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site
• National World War II Memorial
• Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial
• Rosie the Riveter/World War II Homefront National Historical Park
• USS Arizona Memorial
• War in the Pacific National Historical Park

Korean War:
• Harry S. Truman National Historic Site
• Korean War Veterans Memorial

Vietnam War:
• Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park
• Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Cold War:

• Minuteman Missile National Historic Site

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
A worldwide resource that provides information on VA programs, veterans benefits, VA facilities worldwide, and VA medical automation software.

American Legion
The world's largest veterans organization was chartered by Congress in 1919 is a community-service organization which now numbers nearly 3 million members.

Veterans of Foreign Wars
The Veterans of Foreign Wars has been a voice for our nation's veterans for more than a century and is the nation's oldest major veteran's organization.

World War II Veterans
Vietnam Veterans of America
Korean War Veterans Association

Branches of the United States Military:

• Airforce
• Army
• Coast Guard
• Marine Corps
• Navy

US Air Force Museum
The oldest and largest military aviation museum in the world, the Air Force Museum presents the exciting story of aviation development from the days of the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk to the Space Age.

US Army Center of Military History
This office records the official history of the Army in both peace and war, while advising the Army Staff on relevant historical matters. See also the specific US Army Women's Museum.

US Coast Guard Historian's Office
The historian's website offers a host of information on Coast Guard history, the Coast Guard Museum, historic documents, publications, and a section just for kids.

US Marine Corps Historical Center
Learn more about the history of the Marines.

US Naval Historical Center
The official history program of the Department of the Navy includes a museum, art gallery, research library, archives, and curator as well as research and writing programs.

National D-Day Memorial Foundation
National memorial in Bedford, Virginia, to the Allied Forces involved in the D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944.

The Paralyzed Veterans of America
This congressionally chartered organization founded in 1946 has developed a unique expertise on a wide variety of issues involving the special needs of their members.

Disabled American Veterans
Formed in 1920 and chartered by Congress in 1932, the million-member DAV is the official voice of America's service-connected disabled veterans--representing all of 2.1 million disabled America veterans, their families and survivors.

National Park Service's American Battlefield Protection Program
Promotes the preservation of significant historic battlefields associated with wars on American soil.

National Museum of American Jewish Military History
This museum, run by the Jewish War Veterans of the USA, documents, preserves and educates the public about the contributions of Jewish Americans to the peace and freedom of the United States.

American Indian Participation in the US Military
American Indians have participated with distinction in United States military actions for more than 200 years. The Navy highlights their involvement online in: 20th Century Warriors: Native American Participation in the United States Military.

Military Woman
Professional organization for women in the military service and female veterans.

Note: Image from NR Home page, Navy bugler sounds "Taps," courtesy of The Official Web Site of the Arlington National Cemetery.

Comments or Questions


SEB