Elkhart Doughboy turns 100 years old

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[November 12, 2019]     The year 1919 was a memorable year for the Village of Elkhart. It’s when one of the iconic items came to the village. 1919 is the year the Doughboy was gifted to the Elkhart American Legion, after WWI, from returning vets, to honor those who didn’t make it back home after the war.

It’s now 2019 and that makes the Elkhart Doughboy 100 years old!

After receiving the statue, the base was engraved with the seventy-six 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.

“What is a ‘Doughboy’ you might ask? The most accepted explanation for “Doughboy” dates from the Mexican-American War in 1846. It 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.”

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, that were identified as Doughboys, were the frontline infantry during the war.

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.

The Elkhart Doughboy is in a different pose, called “Order Arms,” which makes him more unique than the others. One possible explanation for the difference, is that the Elkhart statue was made before the “The Spirit of America” statue was in mass production.

The statue was originally put in the intersection of Gillette and Bogardus streets in downtown Elkhart where carriages, and later cars, drove around it. Ten years later, it was moved to Elkhart High School at it’s 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.

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At that point, the statue was stored in the Legion Hall until 1986. Susan Green donated money to “spruce up” the statue. 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, there were 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. 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.



The citizens of Elkhart are very proud of their heritage. The newly renovated Veteran’s Park proudly honors all of the military personnel of Elkhart and prominently displays Elkhart’s second oldest citizen, (At 101 Mrs. Miller has the honor of being first.)

Happy 100th Birthday, Doughboy!

[John and Ann Olson]

 

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