WASHINGTON — Darke County veterans visiting the nation’s capital during the Darke County Veterans Services’ four-day trip viewed the National Military Monument, where many of their names appeared in a display honoring generations of Americans who served.
Located on the Lincoln Memorial Plaza, the monument uses digital screens to display service members’ names, recognizing military service from the Revolutionary War through today.
For local veterans, the stop offered a chance to see their service represented as part of the nation’s military history.
Martyn Pauwels, a USAA employee from San Antonio who served 29 years as an Army medic, volunteered to help visitors learn about the monument.
“This is honoring our 41 million service members that served since the Revolutionary War, up until current conflicts,” Pauwels said.
Presented by USAA, the monument honors both living and deceased service members. Pauwels said approximately 37 million names had been gathered for the display at the time of the visit, with additional names still missing from the collection.
“We have the opportunity to honor our service members, both living and those who are no longer with us, through this monument,” he said.
The display’s flag stripes incorporate LED screens that rotate to a different set of names every 45 seconds. Names are organized by periods of military service, taking visitors through the Revolutionary War, Civil War, World Wars, Korean War, Vietnam War, and other conflicts and eras.
The number of names gives the monument a scale that can be difficult to grasp during a brief visit.
“It would take you around eight and a half days in the same spot to see the same name in that same spot again,” Pauwels said.
For Pauwels, helping at the monument also carries personal meaning. The display recognizes people he served alongside during nearly three decades in uniform, including fellow service members who died in combat in Iraq.
“I volunteered to come out and support,” he said. “I served 29 years in the Army as a medic.”
He described the assignment as an opportunity to give back while seeing the names of those he served with, including those who are no longer living.
According to USAA, assembling the names required drawing from numerous public records and historical sources because no single comprehensive, publicly available record of every U.S. service member exists.
Some historical records are incomplete, fragmented or damaged. Many veterans and current service members whose records are not public are not included without verified consent.
The monument is intended to recognize more than 41 million men and women who have served across 250 years of American military history, even as work continues to build a more complete collection of names.
USAA, founded by military officers in 1922, describes the monument as an expression of gratitude to those who have worn the uniform and to the families who have supported them.
Pauwels said the monument opened July 28 and was expected to remain on display through Veterans Day, with its closing anticipated between Nov. 12 and 16.
For Darke County veterans making the four-day Washington trip, the visit brought a local connection to the national tribute: Their service, and the service of fellow veterans, represented among the names displayed before the Lincoln Memorial.
The monument, situated before the Lincoln Memorial and Reflecting Pool on the National Mall, is free to visit.
