Doughboys

Login or register to download files

Raw file: Doughboys.GPX (322.24 KB)

On April 6th, 1917, the United States ended its neutrality and formally entered the "Great War," World War I, to fight alongside European Allies until the end of the war on November 11th, 1918. During this period of time, American Army soldiers and Marines were known as "Doughboys." The term is often explained as coming about during the Mexican-American war after observers noticed US infantry forces were constantly covered with chalky dust from marching through the dry terrain of Northern Mexico, giving the men the appearance of unbaked dough.

After the Great War, writers Earnest Hemingway, himself a WWI Vet, and his mentor Gertrude Stein coined "the Lost Generation" to describe the boys who had come of age and fought during the World War and the effect it had on them when they returned to normal life after the hostilities ended. So horrific were the battle scars, WWI became hopefully referred to as "The War to End All Wars."

The memorial statue of the World War I American infantryman is one of the most reproduced life-size sculptures in the United States. It's proper name is “Spirit of The American Doughboy,” and the original sculptor was Ernest Moore “Dick” Viquesney (EMV), a son and grandson of French immigrant sculptors.

In total, including originals made in Viquesney’s lifetime, replacements of originals, copies, those in storage, etc., about 140 are known to be standing in courthouse lawns, town squares, parks, cemeteries, and other locations, and in storage, all across America. Very few local residents in most of its locations know its full proper name or the name of its sculptor. In most locations, it’s merely called “The Doughboy” or “Our Doughboy.” Still, it’s the focal point of over ten percent of the World War I memorials in the U. S., exclusive of plaque memorials.

Some people believe that, except for the Statue of Liberty, its publicly displayed replications are collectively the “most seen” sculpture in the country.