FEATURE image: May 2018. Over the Top to Victory (“Doughboy”), 1921, John Paulding, Memorial Park, Wheaton, Illinois.

All photographs in this post are the author’s original work.

“Over the Top to Victory” is a bronze sculpture of an American World War I infantryman — one of the famed doughboys — created by American sculptor John Paulding (1883–1935). Cast in 1921 by the American Art Bronze Foundry of Chicago, the statue stands today in Memorial Park in Wheaton, Illinois.

John Paulding’s World War I doughboy stands on its Memorial Park pedestal, the bronze figure captured in a moment of forward motion. A wreath in red, white, and blue rests at its base, echoing the statue’s original 1929 Armistice Day dedication to Wheaton’s veterans.

Paulding trained at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and is best remembered for the World War I memorials he produced in the years immediately following the conflict. When the United States entered the war in April 1917, American troops fought with distinction on the Western Front. The armistice of November 11, 1918 — the date that would become Veterans Day — brought the four‑year conflict to an end and secured an Allied victory.

The Paulding doughboy strides through Memorial Park, rifle in hand, its dynamic pose recalling the energy and sacrifice of American soldiers in the Great War. Set against the trees and open grounds, the memorial continues its role as a focal point of remembrance in the community.

Memorial Park itself was established in 1921 as Wheaton’s dedicated space to honor its war veterans. The Paulding statue was added eight years later and formally dedicated on Armistice Day, November 11, 1929, in tribute to all local veterans of the Great War. That summer, the Wheaton Illinoian praised the forthcoming memorial, writing: “The statue is a fitting memorial to the soldiers of the community who died fighting for our cause. Let us not forget so easily!”

After more than seventy years exposed to Midwestern weather, the sculpture underwent conservation in August 2000 by Venus Bronze Works of Detroit. It was rededicated that Veterans Day — with the same local American Legion Post leading the ceremony, just as it had in 1929.

The “Over the Top to Victory” Doughboy statue in Wheaton, Illinois, was reinstalled in a new unified memorial setting in summer 2020. This update allowed the statue to be relocated to a more prominent position, bringing previously dispersed war memorials in Memorial Park together into a single, modern plaza.

Paulding’s World War I doughboy surges forward on its Memorial Park pedestal, the raised arm and shouldered rifle capturing the urgency of the American advance. Flowers at the base mark the memorial’s ongoing role as a site of remembrance for Wheaton’s veterans.

Close view of Paulding’s World War I doughboy, its open mouth and tense expression capturing the urgency of the American infantryman—popularly known as the ‘doughboy,’ a nickname used for U.S. soldiers in Europe during the Great War. The term’s exact origin remains uncertain, though several theories persist.

This explanatory article may be periodically updated.