World War I, also known as the First World War or the Great War, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. Contemporaneously described as “the war to end all wars“, it led to the mobilization of more than 70 million military, including 60 million Europeans, making it one of the largest wars in history. It is also one of the deadliest conflicts in history with an estimated nine million combatants and seven million civilian deaths as a direct result of the war, while resulting genocides and the 1918 influenza pandemic caused another 50 to 100 million deaths worldwide.
Many hours of research went into the WWI Memorial at Veterans Memorial Park. Artist Tim Lawn, an Army Illustrator, designed the Memorial to make it resemble a battlefield of WWI displaying bombed out buildings and trees that were destroyed as well as a bombed out Military wagon. The Doughboy is climbing out of his trench and charging the enemy. All the 155 names on the large granite plaques are Veterans from Hillsborough County who were killed in action during this war.
