THE DOUGHBOY FOUNDATION LAUNCHES BELLS OF PEACE 2023, AND ANNOUNCES BELLS OF PEACE @ THE WORLD WAR I MEMORIAL IN WASHINGTON D.C.

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Nov 01, 2023, 15:42 ET

WASHINGTON, Nov. 1, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Doughboy Foundation invites all Americans to participate in Bells of Peace 2023: A World War One Remembrance on Veterans Day, November 11, 2023, at 11 a.m. local, in tandem with Bells Of Peace @ The National World War I Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Special guest at the Washington, D.C. ceremony will be Commissioner Dr. Libby O'Connell of the United States World War I Centennial Commission, who will speak about the imperative of a Congressional Gold Medal for the World War I Hello Girls, America's First Women Soldiers.

A sailor from the Naval History and Heritage Command will ring an historic ship’s bell at the National World War I Memorial in Washington, DC on November 11, 2023, 11:00 a.m. EST, as part of the annual Bells of Peace ceremony. Bells of Peace is sponsored by the Doughboy Foundation in honor of all those who served and sacrificed in WWI, all American veterans, and all serving American military personnel.

The Hello Girls were the first women soldiers in the U.S. Army. These brave telephone operators helped shorten the war and saved many lives. The U.S. World War I Centennial Commission is seeking a Congressional Gold Medal for the Hello Girls.

Bells of Peace @ the National WWI Memorial, will begin at 10:45 a.m. EST, with remarks by Dr. O'Connell, followed by a wreath ceremony. At 11 a.m. EST a U.S. Navy ship's bell will toll 21 times in remembrance of all those who served and sacrificed in WWI, as well as all of America's veterans, and all serving American military personnel. The ceremony will continue with a moment of silence, then a commemorative reading. "Echoing Taps" will then sound from multiple buglers who will play Taps from different corners of the WWI Memorial, concluding the ceremony.

Also participating in the event will be representatives of the U.S. Navy's Naval History and Heritage Command, Taps for Veterans, The Daughters of the American Revolution, The Military Order of the World Wars, The Distinguished Flying Cross Society, and others.

If you are in the DC region, you are invited to join the commemoration at the National WWI Memorial, located at Pennsylvania Avenue between 14th Street and 15th Street NW, across from the White House Visitor Center. Please arrive before 10:30am.

To Watch the LIVE STREAM from the National WWI Memorial on 11/11 starting at 10:30 a.m. EST, please go to https://youtube.com/c/TheDoughboyFoundation.

Bells of Peace was created in 2018 by the U.S. WWI Centennial Commission and the Doughboy Foundation, in collaboration with the Society of the Honor Guard, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (SHGTUS) to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the World War I Armistice.

The Doughboy Foundation has since promoted Bells of Peace as an annual remembrance of the 11^th hour (local), of the 11th day, of the 11th month, when in 1918 the guns fell silent, and bells tolled on the Western Front after four years of brutal combat. Though rooted in WWI, Bells of Peace has kicked off countless remembrance gatherings on Veterans Day morning, honoring all those who have served and are serving our nation in the name of freedom and Democracy.

Now in its 6^th year, Bells of Peace are tolled nationwide by local groups and organizations signing up at https://2023.bellsofpeace.org/index.php/register, and holding ceremonies at churches, veterans cemeteries, schools, veterans organization posts, parks, and more, tolling the Bells of Peace at 11am, local time on November 11.

Since 2018, tens of thousands of participants have included individuals, families, state capitols, city halls, houses of worship, military installations, museums, cemeteries, schools, veteran posts, war memorials, and others, tolling the bells anywhere that Americans gather to honor their veterans on November 11. (See the Participants Wall going back to 2018!)

Don't have a bell? No problem! The new Bells of Peace WebApp provides all the tools needed for your ceremony, including a complete script, a Countdown Timer, Bell tolling audio, and audio for sounding Taps at the end of your event. Register your local Bells of Peace event at: https://2023.bellsofpeace.org/index.php/register.

For more information about BELLS OF PEACE 2023: https://2023.bellsofpeace.org.

The Doughboy Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization incorporated in the District of Columbia in 2013 under the name of the "United States Foundation for the Commemoration of the World Wars." The Foundation has as its vision to Keep Faith with the American Doughboy. https://doughboy.org

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SOURCE The Doughboy Foundation