The Doughboy Foundation’s mission is to keep the story of "the War that Changed the World" in the minds of all Americans, so that the 4.7 million who served in the U.S. Armed Forces during WWI will never again be relegated to the mists of obscurity. LEARN MORE
The Doughboy Foundation’s mission is to keep the story of "the War that Changed the World" in the minds of all Americans, so that the 4.7 million who served in the U.S. Armed Forces during WWI will never again be relegated to the mists of obscurity. LEARN MORE
"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."
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.
On November 11, 1926, the Bellevue Minute Women dedicated a bronze plaque and 65' wooden flagpole to the memory of the three Bellevue citizens who lost their lives in WWI. 89 years later, the memorial was restored to prominence by the "Lest We Forget" committee of VFW Post 2995 in conjunction with Jewish War Veterans Pacific NW Post 686, the Bellevue Department of Parks and Community Services, the Eastside Heritage Center, and the Bellevue City Council. Although the original flagpole no longer stands today, the restored memorial contains a metal representational remnant. It also features a new sculpture depicting a ceremonially folded American casket flag with three roses placed on top. Nearby, three elm trees in a memorial grove symbolize the three fallen sons of Bellevue. Every Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day, and Veterans Day, three flags are flown to honor the servicemen's memory; there are also plans to hold commemorative ceremonies recognizing the centennial of each man's date of death. The memorial is located in the center of Bellevue's Downtown Park.
The Bellicourt American Monument is one mile north of the town of Bellicourt, west of highway D1044. Erected above a canal tunnel built by Napoleon I, it commemorates the achievements and sacrifices of the 90,000 American troops who served in battle with the British Armies in France during 1917 and 1918. Engraved on the rear facade of the memorial is a map illustrating the American operations; on the terrace is an orientation table.
The 27th and 30th Divisions came to the vicinity after fighting Belgium earlier in September 1918. The St. Quentin Canal Tunnel passes beneath Bellicourt and Bony. It was part of the Germans’ formidable Hindenburg Line, which was broken by the American troops in a brilliant offensive in September 1918. The Bellicourt Monument lies above the tunnel.
The 30th and 27th Divisions went into the line in adjoining zones of action on September 24 and 25 respectively, under tactical control of the Australian Corps. After actions in succeeding days, they participated in the main Allied offensive beginning on September 29.
Both the 27th and 30th Division engaged in heavy fighting with many casualties. Australian troops passed through the American divisions and continued the offensive. The 27th and 30th divisions were relieved from the vicinities of Bellicourt and the area west of Bony on September 30, 1918. American casualties from fighting in this region are interred at the Somme American Cemetery near Bony, a mile to the northwest.
On a bronze plaque is a relief WWI scene depleting an allegorical female figure representing America or Columbia, standing in flowing robes. One hand holds a flagstaff bearing the American flag, and the other rests on a shield. Flanking her is a kneeling WWI infantryman and sailor. Above the three is an eagle.
Beneath is a roll of honor with a list of names of men who served during the Civil War, Spanish-American War, and WWI. The plaque is mounted on a rock-faced base comprised of an upright granite block atop a shorter, wider block. On the back is a bronze plaque honoring local citizens who died during WWII and the Korean and Vietnam Wars. The monument was produced by Liberty Bronze Works and was originally dedicated on Armistice Day, 1919.
A year’s worth of work was dedicated at the Benewah County Veterans’ Memorial Saturday, Oct. 19, 2013.
The dedication ceremony started at 1 p.m. at Woodlawn Cemetery in St. Maries. Prominent in this Memorial is a Medal of Honor Monument to the four Benewah County Service Members to receive The Congressional Medal Of Honor. Woodlawn is also the site of the Fire Fighters Memorial, 57 graves are arranged in a circle each is one of the Fire Fighters lost in the Great Forest Fire of 1910. 57 of the 92 people who died in this fire rest here.
Erected in 1925, the inscription on this memorial reads:
IN MEMORY of EDMUND RUDOLF ANDERSON KARL H. DAUBER WALTER E. ERICKSON JAMES JOHN POMETTA DAVID ALLEN RICHIE ARTHUR ROOD CHRIS CONDARE WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THE WORLD WAR
ERECTED IN 1925 BY THE BENICIA POST NO.101, AMERICAN LEGION, MAY 30TH, 1925.
This memorial honors each branch of the Armed Forces as well as those who served in World War 1, World War 2, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, Lebanon, and Desert Storm.
Creator: Raymond Averill Porter, noted Boston sculptor Monument elements: Concrete base, Milford pink granite shaft and bronze relief panels. Cost: Funded by the City of Berlin, NH in the amount of $6,720. Original location name: Grand Trunk Railway station on Mount Forist Street in Depot Square.
On April 29th, 1919, Company L of the 26th Division assembled on last time at this location upon returning from their service in France, after which they were Honorably Discharged, but not all of those 1.040 men who left returned home. 34 men Made The Supreme Sacrifice in the service of their country defending liberty. The names of those who’s served and those that sacrificed appear here for all to see, remember and thank for what they did. When I see a perfect example of a community War Memorial I think of the country song, All Gave Some And Some Gave All.
The inscription reads: (Bronze plaque on front of base:) DEDICATED TO ALL MEN OF BERWICK AND VICINITY WHO FOUGHT IN THE WORLD WAR -TO THOSE WHO FOUGHT AND LIVED, AND THOSE WHO FOUGHT AND DIED; TO THOSE WHO GAVE MUCH, AND THOSE WHO GAVE ALL. 1914 IN MEMORIUM(sic) 1918 ERECTED BY THE MOSES VAN CAMPEN CHAPTER DAR 1923.
Erected in 1922, the monument was beautifully restored in 2015 under the direction of Middle Georgia State University President Christopher Blake. It honors soldiers from Macon who served primarily in the 42nd Rainbow Division, and depicts the cities in France where the 42nd saw action. It is inscribed in Latin with a phrase translated as “It is sweet and glorious to die for one’s country.”
“Erected by the Ladies Auxiliary 151 Machine Gun Bt., assisted by the Men of the Battalion - 1922”
The memorial is inscribed with names from World War 1 from Jones County, Monroe County, Crawford County, Peach County, Twiggs County, Houston County, and Bibb County.
Inscription - "In honor of the men and women of the armed forces of the United States who served in World War I, World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. The names of those who gave their lives and those who remain missing are inscribed heron."
“But we….shall be remembered; We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; For he to-day that sheds his blood with me Shall be my brother…" William Shakespeare Henry V
On the four bridge abutments are metal plaques honoring four branches of the military who participated in WWI. At the southeast are three infantrymen charging ahead, one down and one throwing a grenade. At the northwest, there are four biplanes amidst clouds. At the northeast are five artillery soldiers firing a cannon. At the southwest are two warships with smoke billowing from their stacks. These plaques were placed here in 1925 by the city as a tribute to Broome County citizens who served in WWI and in all other American wars.
Located in the Bisbee cemetery is a World War 2 Memorial Monument that is guarded by a World War 1 era United States Army 3” Field Artillery Piece Model 1902, mounted on a No. 78, 3” Gun Carriage Model 1902, from the Rock Island Arsenal, 1905. All of these artillery pieces were used to train American gunners, but few were shipped to the front in Europe and none were used in combat.
Addition information from the face of the gun barrel : AM&BR MFG. CO. BRIDGEPORT CONN 1904. 836 POUNDS NO. 65 W.S.P.
Also stamped into the barrel, above the breech: MIDVALE STEEL
This WW2 Memorial Monument was erected by: L.A. Engle American Legion Post No. 16 Army CPL. Leonard A. Engle, Jr.for who this Post was named, served with Company F, 355 Infantry Regiment, 89th Division and Died of Wounds received in the Argonne Campaign. His body was repatriated to the U.S. and buried at Arlington National Cemetery, December 30, 1920.
The Black Hawk County Soldiers Memorial, is a classical revival styled veterans hall, located in downtown Waterloo, Iowa. It was built between 1915 and 1916 as The Great War was ragged across the Atlantic in Europe. It was built by the young tradesmen who soon would be called upon to enlist in the U.S. Military and join that fight for freedom and liberty. Americans saw this as an opportunity to repay our debt to France for their assistance 141 years earlier during our War for Independence. It was built by The Grand Army of the Republic as a memorial to soldiers who died in the American Civil War. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988 due to its architecture and importance in local history. As there were fewer Civil War veterans the hall turned to Spanish War and World War 1 and World War 2 veterans to carry on it’s mission as a gathering place for all American military veterans.
Notation: These photos are not as clear as I would have liked, but the daylight was waining and it was raining heavily. I could not take the time I normally do to make sure they were perfectly clear. If the opportunity presents itself, I will retake these pictures.
There are two memorials for the Black Tom explosion - one at Liberty State Park in NY Harbor; the other, a stained glass window at Our Lady of Czestochowa Church in Jersey City.
Black Tom was an island in New York Harbor, next to Liberty Island, that received its name from an early African American resident. By 1880, a railroad connected it to Jersey City & it began its use as a shipping depot. By 1916, its mile-long pier housed a depot and warehouses for the National Dock & Storage Company.
In 1914 Imperial Germany sent Count Johann von Bernstorff to be its new ambassador in Washington D.C. But von Bernstorff's staff of diplomats were not all as they seemed for these bureaucrats were a veritable army of undercover spies and saboteurs, arriving with millions of dollars to aid the German war effort by sabotage and illicit destruction.
Among their principal targets were the endless supplies of munitions that the neutral US was selling to Great Britain and France. In 1916, over 2,000,000 tons of explosives were in storage on Black Tom, ready to sail across the Atlantic. The island soon caught the attentions of von Bernstorff and his saboteurs.
On the night of July 30, 1916, Black Tom island disappeared. Just after 2 am, slow burning pencil bombs planted by the German agents ignited an explosion so colossal it registered 5.5 on the Richter scale. As glass windows shattered in Times Square and St.Patrick's Cathedral, the blast shook the Brooklyn Bridge and was felt as far away as Philadelphia and Maryland. The Statue of Liberty felt the full blast and was showered with shrapnel, exploding bullets and shells.
Federal investigations named two guards at Black Tom as the likely culprits; the guards turned out to be German agents Kurt Jahnke and Lothar Witzke, but both escaped. An explosion in 1917 at the Mare Island naval shipyard in Vallejo, CA was also attributed to them. When the US finally responded to German's secret war of attrition by declaring war in 1917, Jahnke and Witzke fled to Mexico.
Black Tom Island was reconstructed with landfill and is today the southeastern part of Jersey City's Liberty State Park. Today the park is a popular recreation area, with families taking advantage of the close up views of the Statue of Liberty. But in the corner of the picnic area is a simple plaque, often passed by, which reads, "You are walking on a site which saw one of the worst acts of terrorism in American history."
It is not known exactly how many people died or were injured in the explosion. Possibly, the congregation of Our Lady of Czestochowa were hit hard, which led to the commemorating of the attack with their stained glass window memorial.
The Lehigh Valley Railroad who owned Black Tom Island sought compensation against Germany, who settled on a payment of $50 million which was finally paid as recently as 1979.
The attack may be long forgotten and little known, but it has an ongoing repercussion. Structural damage caused by the explosion is the reason today's visitors to the Statue of Liberty are prohibited from going up into the torch. It has been closed to the public since that fiery evening.
Narrative adapted from Atlas Obscura website.
Photos courtesy of: Memorials - Luke J. Spencer, Atlas Obscura Vintage photos - NJ Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Parks & Forestry
This monument includes the Blackford County World War I Honor Roll as well as one of sculptor E. M. Viquesney's "Spirit of the American Doughboy" sculptures.
"This Tablet is Erected in Honor of the Men and Women of the Town of Blooming Grove who Served Their Country in the World War and in Memory of Those Who Gave Their Lives 1917-1919"
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.
