In 1927, the State of Illinois erected this monument in the Chicago neighborhood known as "Bronzeville," which was home of the "Fighting Eighth" Regiment of the Illinois National Guard. The names of 137 members of the Eighth Infantry, Illinois National Guard, who lost their lives during World War I are inscribed on a bronze panel. The Eighth Regiment of the Illinois National Guard was reorganized as the 370th U.S. Infantry of the 93rd Division, and this regiment saw service on WWI major battlefields, distinguishing itself as the last regiment pursuing the retreating German forces in the Aisne-Marne region of France, just before the Nov. 11, 1918 Armistice. The doughboy on top of the shaft was added in 1936. - Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Art