(Proper right side of self base:) Spirit of the American Doughboy/copyrighted by E.M. Viquesney, sculptor (Bronze plaque on front of base:) (eagle with wings spread) ERECTED 1927 BY/FRANCIS M. DODGE/WILBERT M. ALLEN/AND OTHER CITIZENS/IN GRATEFUL RECOGNITION/OF THE PATRIOTIC SERVICE/RENDERED BY/FOUNTAIN COUNTY/MEN AND WOMEN/DURING THE WORLD WAR/1917-1918 (Rear of base:) FOR GOD AND COUNTRY signed
Monuments & Memorials
"The centennial of World War One offers an opportunity for people in the United States
to learn about and commemorate the sacrifices of their predecessors."
from The World War One Centennial Commission Act, January 14, 2013
World War One was a watershed in American history. The United States' decision to join the battle in 1917 "to make the world safe for democracy" proved pivotal in securing allied victory — a victory that would usher in the American Century.
In the war's aftermath, individuals, towns, cities, counties, and states all felt compelled to mark the war, as did colleges, businesses, clubs, associations, veterans groups, and houses of worship. Thousands of memorials—from simple honor rolls, to Doughboy sculptures, to grandiose architectural ensembles—were erected throughout the US in the 1920s and 1930s, blanketing the American landscape.
Each of these memorials, regardless of size or expense, has a story. But sadly, as we enter the war's centennial period, these memorials and their very purpose—to honor in perpetuity the more than four million Americans who served in the war and the more than 116,000 who were killed—have largely been forgotten. And while many memorials are carefully tended, others have fallen into disrepair through neglect, vandalism, or theft. Some have been destroyed. Watch this CBS news video on the plight of these monuments.
The extant memorials are our most salient material links in the US to the war. They afford a vital window onto the conflict, its participants, and those determined to remember them. Rediscovering the memorials and the stories they tell will contribute to their physical and cultural rehabilitation—a fitting commemoration of the war and the sacrifices it entailed.
Memorial Hunters Club
We are building a US WW1 Memorial register through a program called the Memorials Hunters Club. If you locate a memorial that is not on the map we invite you to upload your treasure to be permanently archived in the national register. You can include your choice of your real name, nickname or team name as the explorers who added that memorial to the register. We even have room for a selfie! Check the map, and if you don't see the your memorial CLICK THE LINK TO ADD IT.
The Village of Swanton is a small town outside of Toledo, Ohio. Its prized landmark is The Spirit of the American Doughboy statue. The statue was a gift from the French people, the only one donated to a city in the United States by the Republic of France, in gratitude for the sacrifice of Swanton, which had an exceptionally large number of victims, during the war. It is a copper alloy statue of a World War I infantryman carrying a rifle and grenade as he advances through the barbed wire and stumps of No Man's Land. It is mounted on a base of marble chunks and mortar, and a lower base of fieldstone chunks and mortar. The Swanton Doughboy was dedicated on July 5 1926 and, following years of deterioration, was restored and rededicated on Memorial Day 2015. 
