A recent ceremony honored the 95th anniversary of the Clarendon War Memorial, as well as the 40th anniversary of the move to its current location.
The memorial provides “a sacred reminder” of the sacrifice of U.S. military personnel, County Board member Julius “JD” Spain, Sr., said at the annual Memorial Day commemoration, held at the memorial located above the Clarendon Metro station.
Spain is a life member of John Lyon Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3150, which conducts Memorial Day and Veterans Day ceremonies at the monument.
“Never take for granted the service” of military personnel, Spain said on Sunday, asking attendees to remember the survivors of those killed in service.
“Families carry that loss every day,” he said.
In 1986 the memorial was relocated from the Courthouse area to the west end of Clarendon Central Park, where Clarendon, Wilson and Washington boulevards converge.
The monument, constructed of pink granite from Arlington National Cemetery, had stood in the Courthouse area since 1940. But for its first nine years, the monument was located first at Clarendon Blvd and N. Highland Street and then in the center of what was the Clarendon Circle roundabout.
A crowd of 2,000 attended dedication ceremonies on Armistice Day (now Veterans Day) 1931, according to historical panels installed adjacent to the monument in 2019.
Originally paying tribute to 13 county residents killed in the World War I, the names of local World War II fallen were added in 1951. Those killed in subsequent military action have been added over time.
While VFW Post 3150 conducts the remembrance ceremonies, the monument was conceived more than a century ago by members of American Legion Post 139. Architect Adolph Thelander was commissioned to create it, while the ball and eagle sitting atop the monument were added later by the county government.
The keynote speaker at the 2026 Memorial Day program was Stephan Murphy, director of the Military and Veterans Resource Center at Georgetown University.
Murphy acknowledged the service of military personnel “from the beginning of the Revolution to the global war on terror,” and urged more support services for today’s veterans.
In attendance at the ceremony were three County Board members — Spain, Susan Cunningham and Takis Karantonis — as well as a representative from the office of U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-8).
