The Spirit of the American Doughboy sculpture was designed by Ernest Moore “Dick” Viquesney [who was living in Americus at the time] in 1921; the impetus for the monument was the death of about 25 Berrien County men during the collision of the Otranto with the Kashmir off the Isle of Islay in 1918. This was the first of hundreds of such memorials manufactured, but wasn’t placed until 1923 when required funds were raised.

National Register of Historic Places