Spirit of the American Doughboy The Spirit of the American Doughboy is a pressed copper sculpture by E . M . Viquesney , designed to honor the veterans and casualties of World War I . Mass produced during the 1920s and 1930s for communities throughout the United States , the statue ' s design was the most popular of its kind , spawning a wave of collectible miniatures and related memorabilia as well as numerous copies by other artists . Its title is often shortened to " The Doughboy " , and in some locales it is nicknamed Iron Mike . Memorials . The statue depicts a doughboy walking through shattered tree stumps strung with barbed wire , his rifle in his left hand and his right hand held high above his head , clutching a hand grenade . The aggressive design and affordability of the statue made it extremely popular , and more than 150 copies of it were created for municipal memorials across the nation . The Smithsonian American Art Museum currently lists 159 locations . Of that number , 134 currently existing originals have been independently authenticated , and several have been identified as copies by other artists ( notably " Over the Top " by John Paulding ) . Viquesney ' s actual brochures quoted a figure of over 300 by the late 1930s , claiming at least one in every state of the Union , but this is believed to be an inflated figure . Two of the statues , both in Arkansas , are individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places ; one in Helena and one in Fort Smith . Installed in cemeteries , town squares , outside museums , parks , on courthouse lawns , and countless other places , the design is said to be the most - viewed example of outdoor statuary in the US ( after the Statue of Liberty ) although many people do not even realize they have seen it . In 1998 , longtime Sarasota - resident sculptor Frank Colson was commissioned to create a copy for the city of Sarasota , Florida , and again in 2002 , for the city of Columbia , South Carolina . These were new copies in their own right , not meant to replace any existing Doughboys as Sarasota never had an original Viquesney Doughboy . An original does exist in another part of Columbia , SC , giving that city two ; an original and a copy . Colson and his son also worked on the restoration of the Doughboy in Clearwater , Florida , along with its companion statue , Spirit of the American Navy . The original " Doughboy " statue was completed in 1921 while Viquesney was living in Americus , Georgia and is located in Nashville , Georgia . However , it was the second to be installed , and about the 25th to be formally dedicated . The first completed installation was at Furman University in Greenville , South Carolina . The statue in Spencer , Indiana , the sculptor ' s hometown , was not dedicated until May 29 , 1927 . Statuettes . The statue also sparked an interior decorating fad in the 1920s . The design was so popular that Viquesney manufactured replica pot metal statuettes by the thousands . Also available were doughboy lamps , which were made from the 12 " statuettes ( the doughboy held a light bulb and lampshade in his raised hand ) , candlesticks , plaques , a smaller 6 " version of the statuette , as well as less expensive plaster versions . The statuettes and lamps were made from 1921 to 1925 in Americus , Georgia , and continued to be produced in Spencer , Indiana until at least the late 1930s . With the passage of time and changes in fashion , many of these items were lost , broken , or discarded , making those few remaining in good condition sought after by modern collectors . Variations on the theme . Another statue , created as a companion to the Doughboy , was entitled " Spirit of the American Navy " . This version depicted a sailor in a working uniform holding his cover aloft in his right hand . Far less popular than the Doughboy , only seven were made . All the known Navy statues are installed as part of a set along with a Doughboy statue , or occur nearby , as one of each at the ends of a bridge . Another version , holding a large artillery shell with both hands instead of waving his cap , appears in a 1926 Friedley - Voshardt catalog . The only stone version of the " Spirit of the American Navy " is found in Crowell , Texas according to a Nov . 2 , 2011 article by Daniel Walker in The Vernon Daily Record . The Smithsonian lists only six under the correct title ( the seventh being listed along with the doughboy at Kingman , Arizona ) . One , located in Palatka , Florida , is actually a different version of the statue said to have been created by sculptor Ray Fernandez , although no reference to any sculptor by that name exists in either the Smithsonian Art Inventories Catalogue or the AskART . com database . Viquesney ' s 1936 list shows " 2 Doughboys , 2 Sailors " , reinforcing the likelihood that Viquesney ' s " 2 + 2 " brochure claim was a typo , since all four statues ( the two " standard " Doughboys , the " Sailor " , and a variant design Doughboy ) , were all dedicated at Palatka on November 11 , 1927 , according to newspaper articles . A Smithsonian reference to the Palatka variant Doughboy states that it may possibly have been sculpted by Gutzon Borglum . There is no proof of this , although Viquesney ' s self - written obituary boasts that " he knew Borglum " . Other variants were designed by Viquesney to depict different doughboy poses , but very few got past the drawing stage and none were ever realized at full scale . The largest variant actually known to be by Viquesney is a unique three - foot memorial in Lakemore , Ohio , also listed as " The Spirit of the Doughboy " by the Smithsonian . It was copyrighted in 1930 and dedicated in 1938 . No full - sized Viquesney doughboys in any pose other than the original have been confirmed to exist . New information and photographs confirm this piece is actually titled " Resting Doughboy " and was copyrighted in 1936 .