By Derek Aaron
Times Journal Reporter

The new "Doughboy" was placed atop the pedestal in Monument Square by members of the American Legion and Jamestown city employees, marking the first time in eight months that a statue of its kind had stood in the county seat.
Jamestown's new bronze monument arrived nearly two weeks ago from the manufacturer, Innocast Execuline, before being placed last Friday, according to American Legion Post 133 Commander Jeff Reeder.
"We're very pleased with it," Reeder said. "I think they did a good job on the work and the outcome of it. He's as close as we could get to the original one."
He said the people he's met has only positive remarks on the new monument and are glad to see the "Doughboy" back up.
"Everyone likes the color of him and the (bronze) finish on him," Reeder said.
While the new statue is in place, the work has just started on the monument, itself.
"This is just the first step in completing the project," Reeder said. "We still got a lot of work to do and that puts the pressure on us to get the work done in the next eight to 10 weeks."
He said in the next few days that the damaged concrete steps on each side of the monument would be taken out and replaced as well as some granite on the monument and light replacement. Reeder also said a new flag pole still has to be put up in the coming weeks.
"We've had nothing but 100 percent support from the community," he said. "It has been above and beyond what I expected, support-wise."
Reeder has been overseeing the monument replacement project and deposited a $25,000 check from the insurance company of the man who crashed into it for the damages and has taken in around $2,000 in donations from people within the community.
The city of Jamestown has handled the "Doughboy" account and all money toward rebuilding the monument and has spent it at the discretion of the American Legion, according to Mayor Brooks Bates.
"I think we need to make it clear to the people of the county that Jamestown has, more or less, become the custodian of the monument," Mayor Brooks Bates said. "We don't even own it, the county owns it, and the American Legion is in charge of the "Doughboy."
"Commander Reeder has taken the forefront on this and he has done a very good job," Bates said.
Reeder said Veteran's Day, Tues., November 11, is scheduled as the dedication day for the new "Doughboy," the same day the original "Doughboy" was dedicated in 1937.
"We're looking at an hour to an hour-and-a-half program that day," Reeder said.
He said he made contact with one of Sgt. Alvin York's children, Andrew York, who will most likely be at the dedication.
York has two other siblings, one brother and one sister, who will try to be in Jamestown as well.
Sgt. York, a World War I hero, attended the original monument dedication in 1937.
Reeder said the Russell County High School Laker Band would be performing at the dedication and the high school's Naval Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps would participate as flag bearers and to help seat the veterans at the event. Reeder said an exact time for the event would be announced in the coming weeks.
"It seems like things are starting to fall into place," he said. "The community is really wanting to get involved and we're wanting to get the local churches involved and the school system and make it a community-wide project."
Back in February, the rifle and left hand of the old statue was broken off and the rifle was broken into two pieces when it was struck by a truck being operated by an alleged drunk driver.
The base was shattered and the statue's ankles were cracked, as was the elbow of the left arm. The right arm was broken off near the elbow as well.
The large flag pole behind the monument was also seriously damaged in the incident and was taken down as a safety precaution earlier this year.
The symbolic statue stood in Monument square in Jamestown for more than 70 years. Jamestown is one of only four locations to have a "Doughboy" in the center of intersections.
Jamestown's new "Doughboy" statue is one of more than 150 located around the country as memorials to the local communties' war dead, honoring those who gave their lives in service.
Officially known as "The Spirit of the American Doughboy," the sculpture was designed by E. M. Viquesney, designed to honor the veterans and casualties of World War I.
The original Jamestown statue, a zinc version, was dedicated 71 years ago.