ND Senior Alumni Celebrate 100 Years of God, Country, Notre Dame
Few alums realize that the east entrance to the Basilica of the Sacred Heart is actually the Notre Dame World War I Memorial, dedicated 100 years ago on May 30, 1924.
This year’s Notre Dame Senior Alumni Memorial Day program features Mike Cerre ’69—Emmy Award-winning broadcast journalist, interviewing Father Peter Rocca ’70, ’73M.A., and John Hickey ’69 about the history of the memorial with its four iconic words—God, Country, Notre Dame.
Father Rocca is the Basilica’s former rector and the current chaplain for the ROTC program.
John Hickey and his colleague Darrell Katovsich researched the biographies of the 56 ND servicemen who died during the Great War and are honored on the memorial. And John’s grandfather’s construction company built the memorial.
Join us on the ND Alumni Association and the NDSA Facebook pages on Memorial Day, May 27, 2024 at 12 Noon ET to watch this memorable video program.
Looking Back – ND’s Iconic World War I Memorial
John Hickey ’69 introduces his blog story about Notre Dame’s World War I Memorial, which was dedicated one hundred years ago this month, as follows:
“It would be difficult to find an alum who did not know the iconic inscription “God, Country, Notre Dame” chiseled in stone above the east entrance to the Basilica of the Sacred Heart. It is one of the University’s most recognizable images, along with the Golden Dome, the Grotto, the Hesburgh Library’s “Touchdown Jesus,” and the football stadium. Countless students and visitors have walked through the Basilica’s east entrance without knowing its significance as a memorial to Notre Dame’s servicemen who died during World War I.
I did not know that after I arrived on campus as a freshman in 1965. Almost sixty years later, I was motivated to research the memorial’s history for two reasons: 1) My grandfather’s construction company built the memorial in 1924; and 2) the University will celebrate the 100th anniversary of its May 30, 1924 dedication this June 1st.”
Click here to read John Hickey’s full, well-researched story about the history, construction, the dedication ceremony on May 30, 1924, the stories behind the names of the fallen on the bronze plaques added in 1925, and many other interesting details, including whose World War I doughboy’s helmet became a light fixture hanging above the vestibule just inside the doors.
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