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| The Boche 77 at the Bellefonte Courthouse and W. Harrison Walker Photo Retrieved From: Pennsylvania Newspaper Archive |
After four horrific years, the "war to end all wars" came to a close on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of the year 1918. World War I as it became known, introduced the world to a level of death and destruction previously unseen. Approximately 16 million lives had been lost during the conflict, almost 2% of the world's population at that time. In the United States, who had only joined the conflict the year before, 205,690 service members returned home suffering from wounds of various degrees. Another 116,708 never made it back.
The following year, Armistice Day was established by President Woodrow Wilson as a day to remember those who had served and lost their lives in WWI. As part of this remembrance, monuments and statues were erected in communities large and small across the country. Some of these dedications were comprised of military equipment captured from the enemy on the battlefields of Europe.
