Effort underway to restore the World War I Monument at the Mohave County, AZ Superior Courthouse 

By Travis Rains
via the Kingman, AZ Daily Miner newspaper web site

Businesses, organizations and individuals all throughout Mohave County came together in 1928 to erect a monument dedicated to those who served in World War I. Now that the passage of time and a few bad actors have led to the deteriorating condition of the monument, there’s a group of veterans leading another community effort, this time to restore the World War I monument at the Mohave County Superior Courthouse.

“The monument was to recognize the service and dedication of those young kids that went to WWI,” Wallace said. “They were 18, 19-year-old. This monument is for the memory of those folks that went into what they call the ‘War to end all wars’ and preserved the planet.” (Photo by Travis Rains/Daily Miner)Bob Wallace, director of the Arizona Military Order of Devil Dog Charities, may live in Prescott now, but he grew up in Kingman. He remembers the monument being a focal point and source of pride for the City, and spoke fondly about how he and his friends, and the rest of Kingman for that matter, would gather near the monument to socialize and receive treats during the holidays. But the importance of the monument and what it stood for was never far from thought for Wallace.

“The monument was to recognize the service and dedication of those young kids that went to WWI,” he said. “They were 18, 19-year-old. This monument is for the memory of those folks that went into what they call the ‘War to end all wars’ and preserved the planet.”

Wallace said the monument, which was designed by E.M. Viquesney, remained in great condition from the time it went up in May 1928 all the way through his childhood in the late 1950s and early ‘60s. And it stayed that way, he said, up until the 1990s.

That’s when the Colt machine gun “Potato Digger” was stolen from the monument. The gun sat between the monument’s soldier and sailor, and was never recovered. Now the years have taken their toll on the monument, with alkali and silica deposits being prominent. Its backside is almost completely covered in vines.

Read the entire article on the Daily Miner web site here:

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