This Memorial Day, join us as we give special honor and recognition to the individuals who sacrificed their lives while serving their country.
2025 Memorial Day Weekend
Friday, May 23 - Monday, May 26
Admission discount during Memorial Day Weekend:
- Free General Admission for veterans/active-duty military; spouses and dependents with ID
- Half-price General Admission for the public
2025 Memorial Day Weekend Events
World War I Research Stations
When: During Museum hours, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Where: Outside Auditorium Lobby
What: Find your connection to World War I during Memorial Day weekend through research stations at the Museum. With access to multiple databases including Fold3.com, Ancestry.com, the Museum and Memorial’s online collections database, the American Battlefield Monuments Commission and the National Archives, discover how the Great War affected your family through records, photographs and much more. FREE to the public.
Flags of Forgotten Soldiers Display
When: Monday, May 12 - Tuesday, May 27
Where: Walkway Terrace near Main Entrance
What: The Department of Veterans Affairs reports that every 72 minutes, a servicemember takes their own life. This moving display of 140 U.S. flags calls attention to the fact that 140 veterans are lost to suicide every week. FREE to the public.
Warrior Pose: Yoga with Veterans
When: Saturday, May 24, 8:45 a.m.
Where: Paul Sunderland Glass Bridge
What: The Veterans Yoga Project offers restorative self-regulating practices to help veterans, service members and military families recover from PTS(D). Participants will take part in a low-impact regimen that quiets the mind and develops flexibility for any level of fitness. Free with RSVP. Register for the event
Memorial Day Ceremony
When: Monday, May 26, 10 a.m.
Where: Memorial Courtyard
What: A formal public program to include remarks from dignitaries and a keynote address from Major General (Ret.) William Razz Waff. He served for 39 years in the United States Army and Army Reserve and retired as Department of the Army Deputy G1 and Chairman of the Army Reserve Forces Policy Committee. ASL interpretation will be provided for the ceremony. FREE to the public | Onsite and online
Memorial Day Bell Tolling Ceremony
When: Monday, May 26, Noon
Where: Memorial Courtyard
What: We commemorate those who made the ultimate sacrifice with a bell tolling ceremony featuring a presentation of colors, a wreath laying and a moving reading. It was also tolled 11 times at 11 a.m. on Nov. 11, 1926 during the dedication ceremony of the Liberty Memorial and again on Nov. 11, 2018 to commemorate the centennial of the WWI armistice. FREE to the public.
Walk of Honor Dedication
When: Monday, May 26, 2 p.m.
Where: Walk of Honor
What: New Walk of Honor granite bricks will be dedicated during a special ceremony. The Walk of Honor includes bricks dedicated to those who served in World War I, to veterans of any military service and bricks honoring civilian friends, family or organizations. Bricks are dedicated each year during a Memorial Day ceremony. FREE to the public | Onsite and online
The Rev. William D. Razz Waff, DMin, BCC
Major General, United States Army, Retired
Major General William D. Razz Waff began his military career by attending the Virginia Military Institute and later the University of Mississippi, graduating magna cum laude in 1976 with a bachelor of music degree. He was commissioned through the Ole Miss ROTC program as a Distinguished Military Graduate in the Regular Army as a Second Lieutenant in the Adjutant General’s Corps. While on active duty for four years at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, he was an Advanced Individual Training Company Executive Officer and Battalion Adjutant, and also served as the Fort Jackson Headquarters Company Executive Officer and then as the Commander; and finally as the Executive Officer/Adjutant of the Military Enlistment Processing Station located at Ft. Jackson.
He then transferred to the Army Reserve when he entered Seabury-Western Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois in the Fall 1980, and was assigned to Chicago area USAR units in Forest Park, Illinois and at Ft. Sheridan, Illinois. As a Lieutenant Colonel he served as the G1 (Personnel Services) of the 1st Brigade, 85th Division and then commanded the 1185th Logistics Support Battalion. As a Colonel he commanded the 2nd Group, 1st Brigade, 85th Division and was the Chief of Staff of the 88th Regional Readiness Command at Ft. Snelling, Minnesota.
As a Brigadier General Razz served as the Deputy Commanding General of the 99th Regional Readiness Command in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and then as the first Deputy Commanding General of the U.S. Army Human Resources Command in Alexandria, Virginia. Selected for promotion to Major General, he was the Commanding General of the 99th Regional Support Command at Ft. Dix, New Jersey and Senior Commander of Ft. Devins, Massachusetts and Ft. Dix, New Jersey. For its service in the relief efforts after Hurricane Sandy, the 99th RSC and Army Garrison Dix was awarded the Army Superior Unit Award. His final Army assignments were as the Department of the Army Deputy G1 and as Chairman of the Army Reserve Forces Policy Committee (ARFPC), both located in the Pentagon. He attended the Adjutant General’s Corps Officer Basic and Advanced Courses, the Army Command and General Staff College and the Army War College (Distance Education), being awarded the Master of Strategic Studies degree in 2001. His personal awards include two Distinguished Service Medals, two Legions of Merit, the Humanitarian Service Medal and the Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal.
After graduation from seminary and ordination Fr. Waff completed a Clinical Pastoral Education residency at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, and started his chaplaincy career at Evanston Hospital, Evanston, Illinois and then served as the Director of Pastoral Care and Ethics at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital in Racine, Wisconsin from February 1985 through August 2001. Razz then served as the Director of Pastoral Care, Ethics and Interpreter Services at Victory Memorial Hospital and St. Therese Hospital from September 2001 through July 2014. He became a board-certified chaplain in the College of Chaplains (now The Association of Professional Chaplains (APC)) in 1987, and also served as the President of the Wisconsin Chaplaincy Commission from 1989 until 2002, and as the President of the Assembly of Episcopal Healthcare Chaplains (AEHC) from 1995 thru 1997. Razz also was the Chairman of the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Pastoral Services (JCAPS) from 1994 thru 1999, and served as the Chairman of the Standards Committee of APC from 2001 thru 2005. He received the APC Distinguished Service Award in 1998 for his work in raising the standards and practice of healthcare chaplaincy nationally. Razz received his doctorate in medical ethics in 1997 through a joint effort of The Graduate Theological Foundation and Georgetown University.
He began his service as the Executive Director of the Military Chaplains Association on Feb. 1, 2018 providing advocacy and professional education for 2,000 active, reserve and retired military, VA and Civil air Patrol chaplains. He is also Chair of the Council of Advice for the Bishop for the Armed Forces and Federal Ministries (AFFM) of the Episcopal Church. He is also serving as the Chair of the Board of Visitors of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, where he also serves as an Adjunct Professor in the Graduate Degree Program. Razz also served on the Virginia Military Institute’s Alumni Association Board of Directors.
2025 Sponsors
Veterans of Foreign Wars
This event is supported in part by the City of Kansas City, Missouri Neighborhood Tourist Development Fund.
