In
1923, before the Legion of Honor was completed, Alma de Bretteville Spreckels
arranged for a ceremony at the site to honor disabled veterans of World War I
and Gold Star Mothers who had lost their sons in France during the war. The
event inspired her to create The Book of
Gold, which bears the names and hometowns of the 3,600 California men who
died in service during World War I, along with the signatures of military
heroes Marshal Ferdinand Foch, Marshal Philippe Petain, and General John J.
Pershing. Read more, and discover the names of the honored soldiers, online at
famsf.org/stories/the-book-of-gold.