This weekend, almost ninety years after Armistice Day, the United States has opened the National World War I Museum.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — World War I ended nearly 90 years ago, only a few of its U.S. veterans are still alive, and about a decade ago, its monument was closed after years of neglect and deterioration.
But this weekend, the “war to end all wars” takes center stage when the National World War I Museum opens, giving the public a chance to learn about _ and from _ the conflict that catapulted the United States toward superpower status.
“Unfulfilled needs, national ambitions, national culture clashes, all of the things that were in play in World War I are still with us today,” said Brig. Gen. Stephen Berkheiser, executive director of the new museum.
“And that’s one of the main points of having the museum, not to take events of 90 years ago and just put a spotlight on them. But basically to answer the question: Why should I know? Why should I care?”
Why care ? Because World War One was quite possibly the most pointless war in American history. I’m not denigrating the heroism of the men who fought on the fields of France nine decades ago, but the fact of the matter is that there was no reason for them to be there. The United States had no interests at stake and no reason to get involved. But, thanks to Woodrow Wilson, get involved we truly did, in a way that set the stage not only for America becoming the superpower it is today, but also for Soviet Communism, Nazism, and World War Two. Pardon me for thinking that America, and the world, would be a better place today if those young men had been allowed to stay home
