Kansas City-area town receives special World War II designation
WARRENSBURG, Mo. — One Missouri community has recently received a special honor from the National Park Service.
Warrensburg and Johnson County, Missouri, together have been designated as an American World War II Heritage City.
The area is one of 11 that received the designation from the National Park Service last week. Communities like Tempe, Arizona; Wilmington, Delaware; and Hastings, Nebraska, also received the recognition.
The agency’s American WWII Heritage Cities Program honors local cities and counties — and their residents who stepped into the workforce to support the country’s war effort.
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There can only be one WWII Heritage City in each state or territory.
The National Park Service touched on Johnson County’s impressive military support during World War II.
After the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the U.S. Army opened a new training base just south of Knob Noster. The Sedalia Glider Base, later renamed the Sedalia Army Air Field, was one of eight sites in the U.S. where glider pilots and Army paratroopers trained.
NPS said Johnson County residents worked to make new arrivals at the Air Field feel welcome, creating USO clubs and more.
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In Warrensburg, the Central Missouri State Teachers College, now the University of Central Missouri, was one of 131 colleges selected to participate in the Navy’s V-12 Officer Training Program.
Today, the Johnson County community still remembers its contributions to WWII through UCM’s Alumni Memorial Chapel, the university’s Navy V-12 Scholarship, Veterans and V-12 Program monuments, and a WWII collection at the McClure Archives and University Museum.
