Le Monument aux Morts, created by sculptor Edmond de Laheudrie (1861-1946).The statue is dated 1920 and was originally dedicated on 16 May, 1921 in the memory of the 44 men of Trevieres, France who died in WWI.
It was installed upon a low pedestal outside the Church of St. Aignan, in Trevieres, France.
Two decades later, WWII began.
The statue was surrounded by turmoil. Shortly after the Allies came ashore on D-day, Germany established a heavily fortified position around the city where the statue stood. Battle ensued and either shrapnel or a direct round tore open the face of the statue.
After the war, a copy was directly recasted from the original -- preserving the damage caused by war -- and donnated by Guy Wildenstein and his family to the city of Bedford, VA and the American nation, in gratitude to the USA for helping to restore France's freedom, for granting asylum to the Wildenstein family, and for halting the extermination of the Jewish people.
Bedford, VA lost more soldiers (proportionally) on D-Day than any other town/city in the US, and that's why the American National D-Day Memorial is located there.
The plaque at the statue reads:
"...Le Monument aux Morts,
preserved as transformed in battle,
is a spectral testament to the destructiveness of war,
evanescence of victory,
and fragility of peace.
Its presence at the D-Day Memorial mutely and eloquently argues
that peace is a consequence of vigilance and justice-
not an accident of complacency or indifference.
In bearing witness to that
Laheudrie's ruined Nike is the Memorials most powerful tribute
to the valor, fidelity, and sacrifice of the Allied Forces
whose rich legacy
is our freedom."
