This is from a talk I gave recently in Victoria, British Columbia regarding the recent American World War One Memorial finalized only recently in Washington DC. A century late, but late is better than nothing?
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Drive on US 30 as the highway meets US 101 underneath the Oregon side of the Astoria-Megler bridge over the Columbia River and you pass a small statue of a World War I soldier. The monument is “the Doughboy” or Astoria’s Doughboy. Doughboy refers to the nickname given to American infantrymen during the Great War. The nickname continued to refer to American soldiers until the Second World War nickname “G.I.”.
World War 1 was a major event in the country’s history. The war pushed a somewhat unwilling nation onto the international stage. Not since the American Civil War had something like World War 1 transfixed the US. During that war, some 10% of the population of the Union served in the Federal Army. By 1918, with 4.8 million serving in the armed forces, 4.7% of the population had served.
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