American Doughboy - Swanton
Posted by: RustyNail09
N 41° 35.104 W 083° 53.366
17T E 259143 N 4607741
"Spirit of the American Doughboy" by E. M. Viquesney's in Swanton Memorial Park.
Waymark Code: WM6N2T
Location: Ohio, United States
Date Posted: 06/23/2009
Views: 14
Swanton Memorial Park is home to one of E. M. Viquesney's "Spirit of the American Doughboy" statues. The sculpture was one of several donated as a gift by France to U.S. cities that had lost many soldiers during World War I. "Figure of a World War I infantryman advancing through the stumps and barbed wire of No Man's Land. He holds a grenade in his raised proper right hand and a rifle in his proper left hand." The Smithsonian Institution Research Information System lists the statue as being installed in 1926, "administered by City of Swanton, Parks Division, Swanton, Ohio." Also according to the Smithsonian, the inscription on the statue reads as follows: "Spirit of the/American Doughboy"/copyrighted by E. M. Viquesney/Georgia (On stone base:) SWANTON REMEMBERS/TO THE MEMORY/OF THE/VALIANT SONS OF/SWANTON & COMMUNITY/WORLD WAR/1917-1918/THIS MEMORIAL IS/LOVINGLY DEDICATED/WE HOLD THEM IN OUR/GRATEFUL HEARTS WITH/REVERENCE AND HONOR/FOREVER/ERECTED 1926 unsigned. This statue is located in Swanton Memorial Park off S. Main St. right at the entrance of the park.