Memorial Stadium was built in 1923 as a memorial to Illinois men and women who gave their lives for their country during World War I. Holabird & Roche (now Holabird & Root), an architecture firm founded in Chicago, designed the stadium dedicated to the 189 University of Illinois students and alumni who died in WWI. Their names appear on 200 limestone columns that support the east and west sides of the stadium. On 189 of these columns was inscribed the name of an Illini soldier who died in the war. In addition, carved stone panels were placed on the facility's exterior to commemorate the war and to honor athletic achievements.

The stadium was officially dedicated on October 18, 1924, when the University football team played a homecoming game against the University of Michigan. In 2002, the stadium dedication was extended to those who died in World War II. The new veterans' memorial honors the 948 alumni, students, faculty and staff who were killed in our nation's wars and conflicts since 1918. Their names are engraved on one of four limestone tablets at the entrances to Memorial Stadium's east and west colonnades alongside the names of their fallen World War I comrades.

Below is a full list of the names engraved on those columns: