The memorial acquisition had its beginnings as early as March 1920 when a successful campaign was conducted to raise funds to acquire the plaque by public subscription. The original plan was to place it on a large boulder at the Franklin County Courthouse, but a state art commission rejected that plan. After considerable delay, the base shown in the above photograph was built and the Doughboy was dedicated at the current location on a rainy November 12, 1923 – Armistice (November 11) was on Sunday that year. The parade paused for a minute of silence at 11 a. m. to recognize the effective time of the armistice five years earlier. Numerous organizations, bands and speakers participated in the ceremony.

The First Division Monument sits on a plaza in President's Park, west of the White House and south of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building (EEOB) at the corner of 17th Street and State Place, NW. (The EEOB was originally known as the State, War, and Navy Building and then as the Old Executive Office Building.) The monument was conceived by the Society of the First Division, the veteran's organization of the U.S. Army's First Division, to honor the valiant efforts of the soldiers who fought in World War I. Later additions to the monument commemorate the lives of First Division soldiers who fought in subsequent wars. The World War II addition on the west side was dedicated in 1957, the Vietnam War addition on the east side in 1977, and the Desert Storm plaque in 1995. Cass Gilbert was the architect of the original memorial and Daniel Chester French was the sculptor of the Victory statue. Gilbert's son, Cass Gilbert Jr., designed the World War II addition. Both the Vietnam War addition and the Desert Storm plaque were designed by the Philadelphia firm of Harbeson, Hough, Livingston, and Larson. Congressional approval was obtained to erect the First Division Monument and its later additions on federal ground. The Society of the First Division (later called the Society of the First Infantry Division) raised all the funds for the original monument and its additions. No federal money was used. Today, the monument and grounds are maintained by the National Park Service. (Courtesy National Park Service)

The Eastern High School Alumni flagstaff commemmorates seven former Eastern High students who were killed in the Spanish-American War and World War I. Paid for by alumni of the school, the flagstaff stands before the school's main entrance. It was in place when the school moved to this then-new building on March 1, 1923.

The Polar Bear Monument depicts a menacing polar bear, sculpted from white Georgian marble, advancing past a cross with a WWI helmet strapped to it.  Designed by sculptor Leon Hermant, it is a monument to the "Polar Bears", a portion of Michigan's 339th Infantry Regiment, who were sent to Archangel in Northern Russia in 1918 to prevent a German advance and help reopen the Eastern Front. Instead, they fought Bolshevik revolutionaries for months after the Armistice ended the official fighting. They had killed 94 before they withdrew in April of 1919.  In 1929, two commissions were sent to Archangel to recover the bodies, and they found the remains of 86 of the men.  On Memorial Day in 1930, 56 of them were buried here.  

In 1988, the Monument and surrounding graves were recognized as a registered Michigan Historic Site and a state historical marker was erected nearby.  The marker reads as follows (note that the text provides the wrong number of burials that actually took place on May 30, 1930):

THE POLAR BEARS 

(SIDE ONE) 
In the summer of 1918, President Woodrow Wilson, at the urging of Britain and France, sent an infantry regiment to north Russia to fight the Bolsheviks in hopes of persuading Russia to rejoin the war against Germany. The 339th Infantry Regiment, with the first battalion of the 310th Engineers and the 337th Ambulance and Hospital Companies, arrived at Archangel, Russia, on September 4, 1918. About 75 percent of the fifty-five hundred Americans who made up the North Russian Expeditionary Forces were from Michigan; of those a majority were from Detroit. The newspapers called them "Detroit's Own,"; they called themselves "Polar Bears." They marched on Belle Isle on July 4, 1919. Ninety-four of them were killed in action after the United States decided to withdraw from Russia but before Archangel's harbor thawed. 

(SIDE TWO) 
In 1929, five former "Polar Bears" of the 339th Infantry Regiment returned to north Russia in an attempt to recover the bodies of fellow soldiers who had been killed in action or died of exposure or disease ten years earlier. The group was selected by the members of the Polar Bear Association under the auspices of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. The trip was sponsored by the federal government and the state of Michigan. The delegates recovered eighty-six bodies. Fifty-six of these were buried on this site on May 30, 1930. The Polar Bear monument was carved from white Georgian marble; the steps, from white North Carolina granite. The black granite base symbolizes a fortress, and the cross and helmet denote war burial.

A standing figure of a soldier dressed in his khakis and wearing his helmet. He holds a rifle in front of him with both hands. The base of the sculpture is a shaft flanked by large paneled slabs inscribed with the names of Cecil County men who died in World War I. At the bottom of the base is a row of three steps. At each end of the base, on the front corners, are tapered shafts topped by electric lamps. On the front of the base is a carved eagle.

Mount Greylock Veterans War Memorial Tower

100 Cities / 100 Memorials

For 84 years, the 93-foot Veterans War Memorial Tower at Mount Greylock, the Commonwealth's official war memorial, has served as an important tribute to the brave Americans who sacrificed so much for our country and for our freedom. Designed by Boston-based architects Maginnes + Walsh, the War Memorial Tower was dedicated on June 30, 1933.  Prominently positioned on the highest peak in Massachusetts, the Tower is susceptible to punishing summit weather. Closed in 2013 due to unsafe conditions, the tower was restored to its original glory in commemoration of the centennial of the Great War and re-opened in 2017. The restoration and re-dedication of this monument is a symbol of our commitment to never forget those who have given their lives in service to our great nation.  The memorial tower is 93-feet in height from base to beacon.  At the public observation level, it is crowned with eight observation windows, which provide expansive views of 70 miles across three states and a surrounding view of the Berkshire landscape. Mounted on top of the memorial is the bronze beacon, which was originally lighted by 12 search lights. Once lighted, it is intended to not only keep bright the memory of Massachusetts’ war heroes and their “inspiration and hope,” but it also guides aviators over the Berkshires at night. Inscribed over the entrance to the tower is the seal of the Commonwealth, and a dedication in classic letters: “Erected by Massachusetts in grateful recognition of the loyalty and sacrifice of her sons and daughters in war.” Inside the base of the tower is a domed memorial chamber with a colorful mosaic tiled ceiling. On separate walls within the chamber, and in no particular order, is a poetic tribute to the state’s fallen veterans written in gold letters. The tribute reads:  SLEEP WELL, HEROIC SOULS, IN SILENCE SLEEP, LAPPED IN THE CIRCLING ARMS OF KINDLY DEATH! ---- GRIM DEATH HAS VANISHED, LEAVING IN ITS STEAD THE SHINING GLORY OF THE LIVING DEAD ---- IF YE BREAK FAITH WITH US WHO DIE WE SHALL NOT SLEEP, THOUGH POPPIES GROW IN FLANDERS FIELDS ---- LIFE IS NO LIFE TO HIM WHO DARES NOT DIE.

A corner marked with a sign that includes the deceased's name and a gold star.

Lieutenant J. Horace Farnham, of the Canadian Royal Flying Corps, was killed in an aeroplane accident in England, April 25, 1918. Mr. Farnham enlisted in the Canadian Royal Flying Corps in August, 1917, and for a time was stationed at Toronto; later he was sent to Kelly Field, San Antonio, Tex., where he finished his training in aviation. He was then sent to England for intensive training, and specialization on war machines, at the R. F. C. camp at Yatesbury, Wiltshire. Mr. Farnham was at the time of his death a senior in the evening division of the College of Business Administration. He was one of the most popular men in college. The members of his class presented to the college a fine portrait of Mr. Farnham; this portrait has been placed on the walls of the college library.

A corner marked with a sign that includes the deceased's name and a gold star.

Atop the 24-story, 425-foot Con Ed building is a colossal, 38-foot-tall bronze and glass lantern dedicated to the Con Ed employees killed in World War I. 

A corner marked with a sign that includes the deceased's name and a gold star.

A corner marked with a sign that includes the deceased's name and a gold star.

Located at the National World War I Museum and Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri, the Liberty Memorial is a memorial to service men and women who served in World War I. It is a National Historic Landmark and associated with the National World War I Museum located nearby.

This memorial, located on the campus of Auburn University near Samford Hall, consists of a small square stone topped with a bronze shield.  The metal plaque on the top of the stone reads:

"In memory of the Auburn men who gave their lives in the World War"

On the front side of the stone the following appears:

"Erected by D.A.R. Chapter 1919"

The Maryhill Stonehenge is a replica of England's Stonehenge located in Maryhill, Washington. It was commissioned in the early 20th century by the wealthy entrepreneur Sam Hill, and dedicated on 4 July 1918 as a memorial to those who had died in World War I.

The memorial is constructed of concrete, and construction was commenced in 1918 and completed in 1929. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2021.

The Maryhill Stonehenge was the first monument in the United States to honor the dead of World War I (specifically, soldiers from Klickitat County, Washington who had died in the still on-going war). The altar stone is placed to be aligned with sunrise on the Summer Solstice. Hill, a Quaker, informed that the original Stonehenge had been used as a sacrificial site, therefore constructed the replica as a reminder that humanity is still being sacrificed to the god of war. The monument was originally located in the center of Maryhill, which later burned down leaving only the Stonehenge replica. A second formal dedication of the monument took place upon its completion on May 30, 1929. Sam Hill, who died in 1931, lived long enough to see his Stonehenge completed.

The dedication plaque on this Washington Stonehenge is inscribed:

"In memory of the soldiers of Klickitat County who gave their lives in defense of their country. This monument is erected in the hope that others inspired by the example of their valor and their heroism may share in that love of liberty and burn with that fire of patriotism which death can alone quench."

The Maryhill Stonehenge, which also includes monuments to the soldiers of Klickitat County who died in World War II, Korea, Vietnam and Afghanistan is now part of the Maryhill Museum of Art.

In 1928, as a memorial to local combat soldiers that died in World War I, the American Legion Post 49 and the Boy Scouts planted 71 coast live oak trees along the 101 freeway between Summerland and Carpinteria.

The trees were aligned in two columns on either side of the narrow cement road. The one lane ribbon of concrete through the country turned into the four lane speedway of today, and a number of the oak trees now grow in the center median between opposing lanes of traffic. About 35 of the original 71 trees still stand today.

The two-acre War Memorial Park located on Fair Oaks Avenue provides a site for the two-story 12,000 square feet War Memorial building.

The War Memorial building was built in 1921 and is identified as a city cultural heritage landmark. The building was built on the former Oak Lawn Park with funding from city bonds and donations from the American Legion. The upper floor of the building includes a kitchen and a large multi-purpose room for dancing, meetings, banquets and other activities for groups up to 200 people. The lower consists of smaller rooms, storage and restroom facilities.

In 1921, Marshal Ferdinand Foch laid the cornerstone of the building. In 1923, General John J. Pershing planted a redwood tree on the grounds. The building is #2 on South Pasadena's Register of Cultural Heritage Landmarks. North of the building, grounds are dedicated for a landscaped memorial garden.

The Elk On The Trail is a World War I memorial to Massachusetts Elks who died in World War I.

A 8' high bronze statue of an elk stands on a 3' high rough cut granite base behind a 4' high fenced in area. The elk holds his head high and has a full rack of antlers. The elk was cast at the Gorham Manufacturing Company of Providence, RI. Sculpted by Eli Harvey, the memorial was dedicated on June 17, 1923.

The plaque reads:
THE ELK ON THE TRAIL
IN MEMORY OF
THE BROTHERS OF THE
MASSACHUSETTS
ELKS ASSOCIATION
WHO DIED IN THE WORLD WAR
ERECTED BY THE ASSOCIATION
17TH JUNE 1923.

This memorial consists of a uniformed World War I soldier in a charging position, going "over the top", standing atop a stone boulder. The soldier wears a helmet and holds his rifle on his proper right side, thrust forward at the ready.

The inscription reads: 

THIS STATUE ERECTED BY GRATEFUL PARENTS OF SOLDIER SONS IN HONOR OF THOSE LIVING AND DEAD WHO SERVED IN THE WORLD WAR.
This boulder from the foot of round top, Battlefield of Gettysburg