RICHMOND, Va., May 14 (UPI) -- Virginia has given $334,000 to the National World War II Memorial, a dollar for each Virginian in the war, becoming the 50th state to deliver its donation.
Virginia Gov. Mark Warner gave a check to the American Battle Monuments Commission on Thursday.
"We had tough budgets, but to say we couldn't afford it is just wrong," Warner told the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot newspaper of Virginia being the last state to get its contribution in. "In my mind, if you care about these veterans from World War II, you don't let something like this fall from sight."
Each state gave the memorial a sum equal to the number of people who served in World War II from that state and a total of 16.2 million Americans served in the war.
The memorial which cost a total of $172 million, has been open since April 29 but will be formally dedicated Memorial Day weekend. About 800,000 people, including many WWII veterans, are expected to attend.
