[1] The fountain was initiated and promoted by the Cleveland Press, which raised $250,000 in donations from private citizens and various organizations for the project.

The centerpiece is a 35-foot (11 m) bronze figure representing man escaping from the flames of war and reaching skyward for eternal peace.

Fredericks described his central figure, towering 46 feet (14 m) above the basin, in this way: This Figure expresses the main theme of the Memorial Fountain, namely, the spirit of mankind rising out of the encircling flames of war, pestilence, and the destructive elements of life, reaching and ascending to a new understanding of life.

Man rising above death, reaching upward to his God and toward Peace.On the surface of the polished granite rim surrounding the fountain are bronze plates bearing the names of 5,552 Greater Clevelanders who have fallen in military service during times of war from 1899 to 2014, a span of 115 years.

[1] The memorial underwent a complete restoration during the construction of an underlying parking garage in connection with the neighboring Key Tower, and was rededicated on Veterans Day in 1991.