Nov 112018
 

In commemoration of the 100th anniversary marking the end of World War I on November 11, a massive light show titled “Peace and Remembrance” has been created at the Liberty Memorial in Kansas City, MO.

For the past nine nights, to honor the nine million soldiers killed during the Great War, over 5,000 giant poppies have been projected on the 217’ tall Liberty Tower and its massive base, the Great North Wall.

Poppies have become the traditional hallmark of remembrance after Canadian physician Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae saw them growing in a battle-scorched field in Waregem, Belgium, which inspired him to write the poem “In Flanders Fields”.  In fact, to enter the National World War I Museum at the Liberty Memorial, you walk over a glass bridge covering 9,000 poppies below.  Each one of those poppies represents 1,000 soldiers of the 9 million who were killed in WWI.

 

On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month world leaders signed an Armistice ending four years of bloody battle in the “War to End All Wars”.  To honor the signing, President Woodrow Wilson made November 11th Armistice Day in 1919.  Following World War II and the Korean War, President Dwight D. Eisenhower rededicated November 11 as Veterans Day.

The over 5,000 poppies illuminating the Liberty Tower and Liberty Memorial base (part of the National World War I Museum park) are created by nearly 55 million pixels and 800,000 lumens.  Every 15-minutes a special presentation is shown on the base displaying images and details about World War I.

The display is the work of DWP Live, a stage and special effects production company used by major artists including Adele and Beyonce as well as Super Bowl halftime shows.

As part of the special commemoration, local artist Ada Koch created 117 intricate metal poppy sculptures displayed in the reflecting pool at the entrance to the Museum.  Each one of the 117 poppies in the symbolic arrangement represents 1,000 Americans killed during the Great War.

Having joined the tens of thousands who’ve had the joy of viewing, I hope it becomes an annual event.

 

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  4 Responses to “Giant Poppies Light Up Liberty Memorial in KCMO”

  1. Cross posted to Care2 HERE

  2. Breathtaking and informative! 03

  3. Hand over Heart!! 202020

    Wonderful & fitting post and tribute for our Fallen comrades! 

    Thank you, Nameless, for this, 

    Thanks, Joananne for posting 

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