The Michigan WWII Legacy Memorial started as Honor Flight Michigan in 2007, providing one-day, all-expense-paid trips to Washington, D.C. for World War II veterans so they could see their national memorial. After 33 flights taking 1,400 veterans, the waiting list was exhausted in 2010. Since then, the organization’s goal has changed to creating a permanent memorial in Michigan. The memorial is planned for Memorial Park at 31050 Woodward Ave. in Royal Oak, at the northeast corner of Woodward and 13 Mile. It will have three main design components. One will feature statues depicting three scenes representing land, sea, and air. Each has a war front and home front component. The second, a colonnade of 13 pillars, will represent how Michigan supported the war through service, sacrifice, industry, labor, commitment, and change. The third will be an interactive and walkable map showing the state’s contribution to the war efforts through industry, government, and commercial endeavors. Educators from across the state are helping to develop an online curriculum to be used in tandem with the memorial.
