The Meridian Doughboy is one of a series of similar World War I memorials across the country designed by sculptor E.M. Viquesny and placed atop a base of native stone in 1927.
According to the E.M. Viquesny Doughboy Database website:
An intricate grilled door with a large American Legion emblem encloses the original plaque, which reads:
1917-1918
TO THE GLORY
OF GOD
AND IN HONOR OF
THOSE OFLAUDERDALE
COUNTYWHO PATRIOTICALLY
ANSWERED THE CALL
OF OUR COUNTRY
TO UPHOLD JUSTICE
AND THE RIGHTS
OF HUMANITY
AND IN LOVING
REMEMBRANCE OF
THOSE WHO THEREIN
MADE THE
SUPREME SACRIFICE
See previous Memorial Day posts:
Categories: Meridian
Preservation in Mississippi 
It seems a bit surreal to me to imagine this as a streetscape in Mississippi.
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