Aberdeen Proving Ground Memorial
Aberdeen, Harford County, Maryland
Marker Inscription
THIS MONUMENT STANDS AS A TRIBUTE TO THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE CIVILIANS, MILITARY SERVICE MEMBERS, AND SUPPORT CONTRACTORS OF ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND AND THE FORMER EDGEWOOD ARSENAL WHO LOST THEIR LIVES DURING THE CONDUCT OF THEIR MISSIONS.
The Story
Aberdeen Proving Ground opened in 1917 as the U.S. Army's premier weapons and ordnance testing site on the Chesapeake Bay, soon joined by the neighboring Edgewood Arsenal, which became the center of the nation's chemical warfare research. For more than a century the soldiers, civilian scientists, and contractors stationed here have tested artillery, armor, and munitions—demanding and often dangerous work that has cost lives across generations. This monument gathers all of them—uniformed and civilian alike—into a single act of remembrance.
Why it matters
It honors the largely unseen military and civilian workforce behind American defense technology, a reminder that the nation's security has been developed—and paid for in lives—far from any battlefield.
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