Defender

I'm sure there are days when he looks down on us in disgust from his pedestal in the heart of Pittsburgh. He doesn't pass judgment, his job is to defend, like all good Americans he would defend our rights to the death and destroy all those who would try to take away our liberty. Around his base are the names of those who gave their lives for our freedom.

The Doughboy by Allen Newman sits at the intersection of Liberty Avenue and Butler Street in the Lawrenceville section of Pittsburgh. Below him was the broad expanse of the Strip District, the old Pennsylvania Railroad's 31st Street Railroad Yard and Penn Station, the Irish shanty town and St. Patrick's parish and the smoke and steam of hundreds of locomotives. St. Patrick's and Penn Station are still there, but gone are the smoke belching steam locomotives of the Pennsy, gone is the 31st Street Yard and shantytown, replaced by high tech businesses and the Martin Luther King Busway. The Strip District is still a destination for fresh produce and exotic foods as well as a bustling nightlife of bars and nightclubs. The Doughboy's view has changed a bit, but Pittsburgh is still Pittsburgh.