Plaques have been added since then to honor those locally who served and sometimes gave their lives in World War II, Korea and Vietnam.

[1] The heirs of village founder John Suffern bought the cannon in 1851 and ritually fired it from the top of nearby Union Hill on Independence Day of every year, as well as for special events like the completion of the Erie Railroad across New York State in 1852.

Only after the United States had fought another war did interest in completing the memorial resurface, and in April 1921 the board authorized construction.

Fiske Iron Works of New York City cast a version of a statue it had erected elsewhere, in zinc (seen as a cheaper alternative to bronze).

The focus on an ordinary soldier was part of a growing trend in war memorials of that era to shift emphasis from a commander or hero to the common man and woman on the line.