LPA visits the US

On Thursday, 12 September 2024, the Ypres Last Post Association will travel to Washington, United States. The delegation consists of buglers Christophe Wils and Tonny Desodt, accompanied by Carl Denys (director LPA). They are traveling to the U.S. at the invitation of the Doughboy Foundation, Taps for Veterans and Visit Flanders.

On September 13, 2024, the official “Illumination” ceremony of the new US World War I Memorial will take place in Washington. The organization is in the hands of the World War One Centennial Commission. They also organize, as in Ypres, a daily Last Post or “Taps” to the new memorial in honor of all American soldiers. The new memorial is located in Pershing Park, next to the White House. About four years ago, they contacted the Last Post Association whose experience and know-how they wished to call upon. In June 2023, a delegation from Ypres visited already Washington.

Together with Flanders House in New York, a program has been elaborated in which the Last Post Association delegation will visit various sites and monuments. In total, the Ypres buglers will sound the Last Post four times in Washington and Arlington. The ceremony in Washington on Sept. 13 can be followed around 7 p.m. local time (= Sept. 14, 01 a.m. Belgian time) through the livestream on https://worldwar1centennial.org. On Monday, September 16, the Ypres delegation will lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.

Director Carl Denys: “The Last Post Association is extremely pleased and honored to participate in this daily ceremony in Washington. We celebrated the 96^th anniversary of the very first Last Post on July 2,  1928. We are happy to put our experience and expertise at the disposal of the American initiators. Worldwide, in addition to Ypres (Belgium) and Canberra (Australia), there is now a third place, namely Washington (USA) where there is a daily tribute to the fallen soldiers the First World War.”