Doyle Glass Bronze Sculptor "Study in Bronze" Louisville Courier Journal

THE LOUISVILLE COURIER JOURNAL . . . THURSDAY JANUARY 27, 2000

Study in Bronze

by Bob Hill

A STUDY IN BRONZE: Jefferson County A District Commissioner Russ Maple has stepped forward to lead an effort to raise, $75,000 for a 6-foot-tall bronze sculpture of Louisvillian John C. Squires, the first Kentuckian to receive the Medal of Honor in World War II. The work will be done by Louisville sculptor and attorney Doyle Glass, whose quest to honor Squires was the subject of an earlier column.
Squires was awarded the medal for his first action in World War II in Italy, where he led pinned down troops to safety. He returned with reinforcements, then moved for-ward to capture 21 Germans and 13 machine guns, which he turned on the enemy. Squires was killed a few months later - May 23,1944 - during an attack on the Anzio beachhead, a few days after his 19th birthday. He was, at the time, the youngest soldier ever awarded the Medal of Honor. He is buried in Zachary Taylor National Cemetery.
Maple, who served in the Army's 82nd Airborne Division in the early 1960s, said the fundraising effort has been linked with the Community Foundation of Louisville, making all gifts tax deductible. He intends to contact Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion posts and local foundations, and use some of his commissioner's discretionary funds to raise money. Maple can be reached at (502) 574-5754 or by e-mail at: rmaple@co.jefferson.ky.us About $5,000 has been collected. "I plan to ask Fiscal Court to place the statue outside the courthouse close to the World War II memorial," Maple said. ."My goal is to have all the money raised my midsummer, at the latest."
Glass, who works for the Kentucky Department of Financial Institutions in Frankfort, has completed a 2-foot-tall model of Squires. It portrays him holding an M-1 rifle, running through enemy fire. It will be on display, along with other Glass works, at the Louisville Boat Club at 7 p.m., Friday.

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