Indiana War Memorial & Museum — Attraction in Indianapolis

This is THE place to go if you only have time to make one stop in the Hoosier state! Beyond special. Beyond deep. This is about who we are, who we have been and who we want to be!

This is about peace and victory and fellowship. About service, sacrifice and courage.

This is about dreams that we won't be doomed to repeat history because we've taken time to understand it.

The memorial's Jennifer Watson shared a geologic history with me about the stone, which our allies shipped from all over the world as a testament to unity in fighting for right: Italy, Northern Africa, Canada,

I'm looking at a portrait of Serbian Field Marshall Radomir Putnik. The Shrine Room contains portraits of Allied generals from the US, Britain, France, Italy and Belgium.

Before appending the self-tour guide to the Shrine Room, I'll leave off with a teaser...

You'd never guess what they've got stashed in the basement!

Now, here's some info staff provided me today:

The Shrine Room

The framed lists lining the walls of both staircases leading up to the Shrine Room contain the names of Indiana’s World War I Veterans. The names with crosses next to them are those who were wounded in action, while the names with stars next to them are Hoosiers that were killed in action. At the top of the stairs you enter the Shrine Room.

The Shrine Room is 110 feet tall and 60 feet square and was constructed with materials from all over the world, symbolic of the global nature of WWI. In the center of the room, raised on a stepped marble platform is the Altar of Consecration. This altar commemorates the sacrifices made during WWI. On the sides of the altar are inscriptions by Royal Cortissoz, who also authored the inscriptions on the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. The top of the altar features the American Golden Eagle, the Shield of the United States, the Wreath of Memory, the Palms of Victory, and a gold ribbon with the 1923 Pledge of Allegiance. This version of the Pledge varies slightly from today’s version.

Hanging above the shrine is the 30 foot tall garrison flag, the largest national flag used by the U.S. Army. The garrison flag is usually flown only on national holidays and special occasions.  Suspended over the flag is the Star of Destiny, made entirely out of crystal. This eight pointed star, representing the eight points of a compass, and symbolically provides a guiding light home for the troops.

Moving out from the Altar, you will see sixteen 40 foot tall columns, each made from red Vermont marble. Each corner of the room contains flags from nations who assisted the Allies during the war. Some flags represent countries that no longer exist.  In each cluster, the American flag is at the center.

Tucked between the marble columns on the east and west walls of the Shrine Room are six oil paintings portraying the national military commanders from the major Allied Powers of WWI: General John Pershing (American Expeditionary Forces), Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig (British Expeditionary Forces), Maréchal Ferdinand Foch (French Generalissimo of the Allied Forces), General Armando Diaz (Italian Army), King Albert I of Belgium (Belgian Army), and Marshal Radomir Putnik (Serbian Army).

The white sculpted frieze around the room tells the story of America’s involvement in WWI.  On the north wall, the narrative begins with United States’ entry into the war in 1917. The east and west walls represent the war itself, and the south wall represents the peace settlement. Above the frieze, you will see the blue stained glass windows casting light into the room, as well as blue lights shining down from the stepped ceiling.

The Shrine Room was carefully designed, with close attention paid to every detail. Each color in the room represents something different. The blue lights and the blue stained glass windows represent freedom. The white in the star and in the frieze represents peace and purity.  The red in the marble columns represents the ultimate sacrifice made by those WWI soldiers who never made it home. When combined these colors also...

If you are in the Indianapolis area this is a must see museum. The building is absolutely stunning!! The architecture is so amazing. My friend and I were lucky enough to get an impromptu tour from Jason! Jason is so knowledgeable about the museum and history of the artifacts. He took the time to show us the theater and shrine upstairs. These areas of the museum are breathtaking. The detail in these rooms is so incredible. Hand carved woodwork and impressive marble are seen throughout these rooms. Paintings and engravings are on every wall. This will be one of the most impressive World War museums you will ever visit. Downstairs you will see countless items from all American War eras. Weapons, uniforms, personal letters, gear and even an Apache helicopter. There is a fully functional radio room depicting the radio room aboard the USS Indianapolis. The tour is self guided and goes in chronological order of the American wars. I would dedicate a couple of hours to enjoy the museum. I’ve uploaded several pictures of the displays. There is parking all around the building. Indiana chose to memorialize our war heroes before the end of World War 1 and I believe that you will be truly impressed with this beautiful museum. Enjoy...

I truly deeply respect & humbly admire what army people do for us. The staff at this place was notably humble & helpful. Thanks to them. For those who know detailed history of both world wars & other wars, this place us one of those hundreds of war memorials where history has been narrated from American point of view rather than what actually happened, which I feel is fair to know how great they did while dropping nuclear bomb on japan, or how great they did by managing millions of people to save this planet from mighty Germany. They have hundreds of the war propaganda pictures that were used to motivate youth of that time. They interestingly cover the sad painful part of wars where people die due to lack of resources & bad circumstances. I noticed there's a small gallery of how great usa army did in Afghanistan to build their nation, culture & democracy there. Well, now that things have changed in 2022, I feel museum mgmt should make changes in this gallery. Overall a great place to be to feel the honor, pride, passion for the nation. Must visit for teens and...