''Over the Top to Victory'', also known as ''Doughboy Statue'' and ''Their Country's Call Answered'', is an outdoor bronze sculpture by John Paulding, formerly located at the Marion County Courthouse in

Salem, Oregon Salem ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County, Oregon, Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, which runs north through the city. The river ...

, United States. The statue was commissioned by the

American War Mothers The American War Mothers was founded in 1917 and given a Congressional charter on February 24, 1925. It is a perpetual patriotic, 501(c) 4 non-profit, non-political, non-sectarian, non-partisan organization whose members are mothers of children wh ...

and the

Gold Star Mothers Club American Gold Star Mothers, Inc. (AGSM), is a private nonprofit organization of American mothers who lost sons or daughters in service of the United States Armed Forces. It was originally formed in 1928 for mothers of those lost in World War I, a ...

to commemorate the 87 men and one woman from Marion County who died in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Description

The bronze sculpture depicts a uniformed World War I soldier, running and holding a gun with a bayonet in his proper left hand and a grenade in his opposite hand. He is shown wearing a backpack and hat. The statue measures approximately x x and rests on a square, tapered stone base that has a height of and a width of . An inscription on the lower right reads: . On the front of the base is the inscription: . The base's front also includes a plaque with a signed founder's mark and the text: . Displayed on the other three sides of the base are the names of 87 men and one woman from Marion County who died in the war.

History

John Paulding's ''Over the Top to Victory'' was commissioned by the

and the

to commemorate the 88 people from Marion County who died in World War I. The statue was copyrighted in 1920 and dedicated at the Marion County Courthouse on November 11, 1924. It was moved to its current location in May 1991 by the

Oregon Department of Veterans' Affairs The Oregon Department of Veterans' Affairs is an agency of the government of the U.S. state of Oregon responsible for programs and benefits for citizens of the state who are veterans of the U.S. armed services, their dependents and survivors. The ...

and rededicated on May 18, 1991. The sculpture was surveyed and considered "treatment needed" by the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

's " Save Outdoor Sculpture!" program in May 1993, and was still administered by the Department of Veterans' Affairs then.

References

External links

*
Historic images of Over the Top to Victory
from the City of Salem archives {{Portal bar, Oregon, Visual arts 1924 establishments in Oregon 1924 sculptures Bronze sculptures in Oregon Monuments and memorials in Salem, Oregon Outdoor sculptures in Salem, Oregon Sculptures of men in Oregon Statues in Oregon World War I memorials in the United States

Description

History

See also

References

External links