Forest Park

This bronze statue of a bareheaded infantryman pausing at the grave of a fallen comrade was dedicated in 1926 as a gift of the people of Richmond Hill to commemorate community residents killed in World War I. Although the sculptor’s title for the piece is My Buddy, the statue is popularly known as “The Doughboy”.

The origin of the word “doughboy” to describe an American infantryman is contested. One common theory suggests that the term refers to the large buttons, reminiscent of dumplings, that adorned the uniforms of infantrymen in the Civil War. Journalist H.L. Mencken (1880–1956) advanced another explanation: “Doughboy was originally applied to the infantry only. It originated in the fact that infantrymen, on practice marches, were served rations of flour, and that they made crude biscuits of this flour when they halted.” The first published usage appeared in the mid-19th century, but today “doughboy” is used almost exclusively to describe infantrymen who served in World War I.

Joseph Pollia (1893-1954), who later created the General Sheridan monument in Sheridan Square, sculpted My Buddy at a time when many World War I monuments were being commissioned. However, Pollia’s figure is distinguished by its pose: doughboys were not typically depicted bareheaded and at rest. The evocation of mourning rather than fighting suitably commemorates the long and ruinous war that has since spawned more monuments than any other conflict in American history. To some observers, the figure recalls the silent film star Francis X. Bushman, whom Pollia may have used as a model for the statue.

William Van Alen (1882-1954), who is best remembered as the architect of the Chrysler Building in Manhattan, designed the granite pedestal that supports the statue. The tablet in front of the pedestal bears an honor roll listing the 71 death casualties from Richmond Hill. The nearby flagstaff, also fashioned from granite and bronze, is another gift from the people of Richmond Hill to honor those who served in World War I.

SGT. JOSEPH E. SCHAEFER OVAL

Joseph E. Schaefer (1918-1987) was a resident of Richmond Hill who distinguished himself in World War II for having repelled, almost single-handedly, a Nazi attack on American troops positioned near Stolberg, Germany. Schaefer, who served as Staff Sergeant to Company I, 18th Infantry, United States Army, received the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1945 for his defensive actions. The commendation by President Harry S. Truman inscribed on one side of the monument is taken from Schaefer’s Medal of Honor citation.

The Schaefer Oval was dedicated on March 24, 1987, shortly after Sgt. Schaefer passed away. Landscape Architect Signe Neilsen designed the octagonal granite outcropping that features inscriptions commemorating Schaefer’s service and a representation of the Medal of Honor, as well as the plantings in the oval.