Salem Government #14A: World War I Memorial

World War I Memorial on August 12, 2007

The Marion County World War I Memorial, features a bronze Doughboy statue called Over the Top to Victory, designed in 1920 by John Paulding and cast by the American Art Bronze Foundry of Chicago. The statue is one of only two known Paulding Doughboys depicted holding a grenade.

World War I Memorial on August 12, 2007

This monument was originally placed in front of the Marion County Courthouse in 1924. The original inscription reads as follows:

THEIR COUNTRY’S CALL
ANSWERED
SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF
MARION COUNTY
WHO MADE THE SUPREME SACRIFICE
IN THE
WORLD WAR
1914-1918
“GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN.”
                                                   John 15:13

World War I Memorial on August 12, 2007

The monument carries a list of Marion County residents who lost their lives in World War I. Here is the list, in the order they are listed on the monument (the first two columns are on one side, the next two on the other side, and the last column is on the back):

 

WILHELM E. AHLGREN CARL E. ALLEMAN LEONARD A. ASKIN SMITH F. BALLARD EMERY A. BARTLETT FRANK J. BRASSEL WILLIAM F. CATTON ORA ETHEL CAVITT HANS F. CHRISTOFFERSON ROBERT E. CROSHAW KENNETH C. CROSSAN EDWIN H. DEETZ JONAS DEETZ FRED A. DERANLEAU ERNEST T. ECKERLEN FRED EHLEN CHARLES S. FISHER DAVID FORESMAN	JAMES E. GARDNER GUS GARREN ARCHIE R. GIBBENS EDWARD GITTINS EDWARD HARTFORD NELS N. HERIGSTAD HARLAN R. HOFFMAN EARLE M. HUNT MELVIN S. IVERSON WAYNE C. JACKSON JOHN JANZEN DAYLE E. JOHNSON AUBREY P. JONES OLEN H. JONES BASIL A. KIRSCH JACOB KERBER HERMAN J. KOLKANA ALBERT A. LAMB
JOSEPH A. MARTIN BEN G. McCLELLAND HARRY MELBY CLARENCE E. MILES BENJAMIN F. MILLER WILLIAM MILLER CLARENCE S. MINKER JOHN H. NEIGER RAY U. NICHOLSON EVERETT F. NORTON ANTEN L. OLSON ROBERT V. O’NEILL WALKER PENCE ALBERT W. PUGH WILLIAM M. REED DELBERT REEVES PAUL RICH TIMOTHY RICKMAN	ARCHIE D. ROBERTS CHARLES RUSS HENRY R. RYE GLENN E. SCHAAP WILLIAM C. SMITH ERNEST J. SCHNIDER EDWIN TANSON STANLEY L. THOMPSON BEN TOKSTAD LESLIE O. TOOZE NICK TROUDT FRED M. UNGER FAY Y. WALLING BERT B. WHITEHEAD CHESTER M. WILCOX ALFRED W. WILLIS CHARLES M. WOELKE GEORGE W. ZIMMERLE

CHAS. AUER
PERRY W. BALDWIN
IVAN E. BELLINGER
HENRY T. BENNETT
JOHN LOU CASTEEL
GARRIE R. DWIRE
WILLIAM A. GUERNE
MILTON A. KOOREMAN
PAUL A. LORENZ
HARRY MASON
SIMON B. SPRINGER
CHESTER A. SIMMONS
THOMAS R. TOWNSEND
CURTIS W. WILLSON
GUS. ZOLLNER
OSCAR ZIMMERMAN

World War I Memorial on August 12, 2007

The monument was moved here in 1991 and rededicated on May 18, 1991. The rededication plaque reads as follows:

DOUGHBOY STATUE REDEDICATION

MAY 18, 1991

BARBARA ROBERTS
GOVERNOR

       JON MANGIS                             ORVILLE A. RUMMEL

DIRECTOR, DEPARTMENT                          PAST COMMANDER 
OF VETERANS’ AFFAIRS                        VETERAN WORLD WAR I

World War I Memorial Rededication Plaque on August 12, 2007

Another Paulding Doughboy of a different design is in Astoria, Oregon.

For more information about the Paulding doughboy statues: John Paulding’s Doughboys at Earl D. Goldsmith’s E.M. Viquesney Doughboy Database

Additional Links:
Doughboy Memorial at Discover-Neighborhood-History

World War I Plaque on August 12, 2007

Adjacent to the World War I memorial is another pedestal with a plaque from the Veterans of World War I of the USA carrying the poem In Flanders Fields. The poem was written by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, M.D. of the Canadian Army on May 13, 1915. It refers to fields in Flanders, Belgium where war casualties were buried. Here is the text of the plaque:

WORLD WAR I
APRIL 6, 1917 – NOVEMBER 11, 1918

IN FLANDERS FIELDS

         IN FLANDERS FIELD THE POPPIES GROW
         BETWEEN THE CROSSES, ROW ON ROW,
         THAT MARKS OUR PLACE; IN THE SKY
         THE LARKS, STILL BRAVELY SINGING, FLY
         SCARCE HEARD AMONG THE GUNS BELOW.

         WE ARE THE DEAD. SHORT DAYS AGO
         WE LIVED, FELT DAWN, SAW SUNSET GLOW,
         LOVED AND WERE LOVED, AND NOW WE LIE
                               IN FLANDERS FIELDS.

         TAKE UP OUR QUARREL WITH THE FOE;
         TO YOU FROM FAILING HANDS WE THROW
         THE TORCH; BE YOURS TO HOLD IT HIGH.
         IF YE BREAK FAITH WITH US WHO DIE
         WE SHALL NOT SLEEP, THOUGH POPPIES GROW
                               IN FLANDERS FIELDS.

Continue to 14B: Spanish-American War Memorial…