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 Veterans
were introduced and asked to stand
and be recognized. Then everyone
heard from speakers
Ann Olson, Jan Funk and Paul Osman.
Olson, a member of the NAG Board,
who worked tirelessly on the park
project, shared the statue’s
history. She said, “Prior to this
park renovation, I always knew the
statue guarding the entrance to this
park was known as the ‘Doughboy,’
but I never knew why it was given
that name.”
Olson said her research showed “the
most accepted explanation for
‘Doughboy’ dates from the
Mexican-American War in 1846 [and]
was a name given to members of the
American infantry because their
uniforms were covered with adobe
dust and dirt, which made them look
like they were covered in flour.
They were called ‘adobies’ then ‘dobies,’
and eventually ‘doughboys.’”
Olson said. “When Americans landed
in France during WWI the French
people attached nicknames to all the
foreigners. Several names were given
to the Americans, but one stuck,
Doughboy. These men, identified as
Doughboys, were the frontline
infantry during the war."
Olson said, “Today, there are about
100 doughboy statues in parks and
memorials nationwide. Most of those
statues, which were mass produced in
the 1920’s, show the doughboy in a
position with the right arm extended
and the right leg bent back. This
version is called ‘The Spirit of
America.’ "The designer chose this
pose so from the profile, the statue
resembled the stance of the Statue
of Liberty.”
Olson said, “Our
Doughboy is in a different pose,
called ‘Order Arms,’ which, in my
opinion, makes him more unique than
the others. One possible explanation
for the difference is our statue was
made before the ‘The Spirit of
America’ statue was in mass
production."
Olson said, “In 1919, the Doughboy
was a gift to the Elkhart American
Legion from veterans returning after
WWI, from returning vets, to honor
those who didn’t make it back home
after the war. The base was engraved
with the 76 names of those veterans.
Since then, plaques have been added
to the statue with the names of
village veterans from WWII, the
Korean War, and all veterans killed
in action from Elkhart during past
wars.”
Olson said, “The statue was
originally put in the intersection
of Gillette and Bogardus streets in
downtown Elkhart, where carriages
and later cars, drove around it, and
ten years later, it was moved to
Elkhart High School at its opening
in 1924, at which time it was
referred to as ‘The Soldier’s
Memorial.’
"In 1975, when the school closed,
the Doughboy was moved to the park
uptown. It remained there until
vandals chipped away at some of his
features. At that point, the statue
was stored in the Legion Hall until
1986 when Susan Green donated money
to spruce up the statue.”
Olson said, “Afterward, the Doughboy
was returned to Veterans’ Park and
placed near the sidewalk and opening
to the park. In 1994, vandals did
heavy damage to the statue. He was
beheaded, his nose was missing, ear
was chipped, skid marks across the
right side of his face, and the brim
of his hat chiseled away. In
addition, his right hand, and gun,
were knocked off and broken into
pieces.”
Olson said, “At that time, Legion
members didn’t have the money to fix
the statue and doubted it would be
resurrected. Their main concern was
finding the culprits, then seeing if
the community would fund a statue
restoration project. Again, thanks
to Susan Green, the statue was
restored.”
Olson said, “Veterans’ Park was
created in 1977 by Susan Keays Green
to honor all veterans, on behalf of
her sister Elizabeth Drake. The site
of the park was a dilapidated
commercial building, Taylor’s
Grocery, on Governor Oglesby Street,
that was razed to provide the
downtown location for the park.”
Olson said, “In the spring of 1996,
the floor of the Veterans’ Park was
beginning to crumble since it had
been laid over the top of the
demolished grocery store. With money
from the village, and labor from the
Legion and Auxiliary, the new brick
floor was installed. In 2004, the
Village of Elkhart became the
official owners of the park.”
Olson said, “NAG was created in 1984
as another vision of Susan Green.
NAG stands for ‘Needs and Goals’ of
Elkhart. At that time, they became
the caretakers of the park and over
the years have been responsible for
planting flowers, keeping it weeded,
and other cosmetic touches.”
Olson said, “NAG has also made some
improvements to the park which
included installation of the white
fence behind me. In August of 2015,
NAG was looking for a project and
approached the village about
renovating Veterans’ Park. By
October, we had a tentative plan and
started our fundraising efforts.”
Olson said, “Now, over three years
later, our vision has finally been
realized. The project included
ensuring the park was handicap
accessible with a safe, stable floor
surface; updating the US flag
depository donated by Ethan Graue of
Lincoln as his Eagle Scout project;
landscaping; a reflective sitting
wall with benches around the
perimeter; installing electricity,
water, and lighting, and of course,
cleaning and stabilizing our
Doughboy.”
Olson said, “Our goal for this
project was to improve the existing
park to honor veterans, have a
public space for congregation,
improve the aesthetics of Gov.
Oglesby Street, and to attract
pedestrian traffic to historical
sites and local business in
Elkhart.”
Olson closed by asking everyone to
“take time to look at the before
pictures on the easel and I think
you’ll agree, NAG has achieved its
goal.”
Park Project Manager Jan Funk next
thanked many who helped make the
restoration project possible
including Mayor Lyle Fout, NAG, Art
Boughan, Howard Conrady, Wayne
Howell, Tim Currier, Tim J. Holley,
and Mark and Lori McWilliams of
Coppertree Outdoor Lifestyles.
The keynote speaker for the ceremony
was World War I historian Paul Osman.
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Osman
said he started doing some research
on Elkhart and World War I and said,
“It is amazing how much this small
town did in World War I.” He said,
“There are memorials for every
single war in Washington, D.C.
except World War I.”
Osman said Elkhart’s statue is
“super unique” because hardly any
communities in the whole state of
Illinois have World War I
Memorials,” [but] “Williamsville and
Elkhart both have very nice World
War I Memorials.”
Osman said the war started on June
28, 1914 when Austria declared war
on Serbia, and by August, 30
countries and 67 million men were at
war. He said, “World War I remains
the most horrific war we have ever
had because of those 67 million men,
a tenth of them, [or] eleven
million, never made it home. Of the
remaining, half of them were
wounded.”
Osman said the arms used in that war
are “virtually the same as what our
infantry uses today [including]
machine guns, tanks, flame throwers,
airplanes, and artillery that can
land on a square meter. Men were
walking into this rain of shrapnel
and falling in droves.” He said nine
million had been killed by 1918 and
“all the armies in Europe were
decimated.”
That spring, Germans attacked,
pushing the British almost all the
way back to the North Sea and the
French almost all the way back to
Paris. That is when U.S. boys
arrived in Europe.
Osman said, “It was a nightmare. The
Germans were winning. Our boys
stepped in and filled the void.” The
Battle of Belleau Wood was the
costliest day in the entire Marine
Corps history.
Osman said the first soldier killed
in action from this area was Abraham
Boch, who lived halfway between
Elkhart and Williamsville. His
family still lives in the area.
He said most of the Elkhart boys
from the 33rd Division joined in the
spring of 1918.
Osman said the Meuse Argonne battle
that spring “remains the biggest
battle the U.S. has ever fought”
with more artillery fired in the
battle than in the whole Civil War
and more men were killed in the
battle than “D-Day, Pearl Harbor,
and Gettysburg combined.” He said,
“The casualties in the Meuse Argonne
were the equivalent of D-Day every
four days for seven weeks.” The U.S.
continued to leave the trenches and
push forward.
Osman said by November 11 at 11:00
a.m., the Germans declared
Armistice, but the war was not done.
He said several Illinois boys left
the trenches for the battle of
Bougainville, which was a town
smaller than Elkhart. Many got
“mowed down” in that effort. Elkhart
native Hillary Davis climbed out of
the trenches, going several times
into “no mans land under shellfire
and machine gun and pulled his
officers into the trenches.” Davis
was nominated for the Medal of Honor
and received the service cross.
Osman said 71 residents from Elkhart
fought in World War I. Five of them
died and two of those were in the
Meuse Argonne Battle. Four sets of
brothers from Elkhart served. The
Spensen family sent two boys and a
daughter over. The Tobin family sent
three boys. Three Elkhart women
served as nurses in France.
One of the brothers killed in the
Meuse Argonne was Elkhart native
Joseph Fitzgerald. Osman said two
days before he was killed, he wrote
a letter to his family talking about
friends from home that were fighting
alongside him, the horrors of the
battle, the weather, and the KC’s
bringing them candy, tobacco, and
cigarettes. In the letter,
Fitzgerald said paper was often
scarce and the boys could not write
home when they wanted to. Fitzgerald
told his mom to have “plenty of eats
laid up for Christmas” because he
“hoped to be there to share them.”
Osman said many on the home front in
Elkhart gave a lot to support the
war. Village women knitted thousands
of sweaters, gloves, caps, and
socks. A Food Conservation Committee
encouraged gardening and canning so
that food could be sent overseas.
A Home Defense Corps made up of
former Civil War veterans helped
protect Elkhart from Germans. Osman
said one day, someone in the Corps
saw a Zeppelin coming from the west
and became convinced it was a German
attack on Elkhart. They sounded the
siren and the Corps came out. They
soon discovered it was Americans in
an experimental airship flying
between St. Louis and Chanute. Once
they realized it was Americans, the
town had a breakfast for the group.
Osman said the community did a lot
to pull together and help the
troops. He said the park and statue
should be a reminder of all Elkhart
did for World War I.
After the ceremony everyone was
invited to go to the Elkhart Public
Library to have refreshments, see
the display of books on various
wars, and see the World War I cannon
on the lawn.
Interim Library Director Sarah
Wilson said the coffee they were
serving was from the Black Rifle
Company, which is made by a veteran
supply company.
Wilson said to commemorate the
town’s veterans, they also put
decals that represented various
branches of the Armed Service in
their windows.
Representative Tim Butler also
stopped by for refreshments and a
tour of the historical library.
The day’s events allowed Elkhart to
honor their many veterans on this
Veteran’s Day weekend.
[Angela Reiners]
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