I love reading about these old memorials and the history behind them ..... thought you may like the story too ! The History Behind the Doughboy They stand prominently in nearly every American community, including this one, these statues honoring soldiers who fought in foreign wars. But many passerby simply ignore them as part of the background. T. Perry Wesley, retired editor of the Evening World in Spencer, Ind., wants to remind people of the importance of these statues, especially of a World War I doughboy created by E.M. Viquesney, a Spencer native. It turns out that Emmitsburg has one of these doughboys, one of 110 that Mr. Wesley has managed to locate around the nation in a 40-year quest to find all the statues. He's still looking for more. One source, an old newsletter on the statues, says "several hundred' exist. Emmitsburg's doughboy, the popular name for a WWI foot soldier, stands at the end of West Main Street in its own little grassy park about 10 feet square. Other than a refurbishing the town gave it a decade ago, the statue gets in the limelight only on Memorial Day when a wreath is placed at its base. http://www.emmitsburg.net/archive_list/articles/history/stories/doughboy.htm http://www.emmitsburg.net/archive_list/articles/history/stories/doughboy1.htm
