Remembering an American Small Town's Contribution to the War

Contributor to Roads Terry Finnegan sent me the above photo of the distinctive and informative roadside marker shown above.  It nicely summarizes the stresses endured, and the contributions and sacrifices of the good people of Wisconsin during the war.

Menomonie Back When

It is located at a highway rest stop in Menomonie, Wisconsin,  Seat of Dunn County, on Interstate 94. Menomonie is located in northwestern Wisconsin, closer to Minnesota than the Great Lakes. Its present-day population is nearly 17,000. Most notably, in 2012, Menomonie was ranked #15 in Smithsonian's "The 20 Best Small Towns in America"

Drafted Men Departing Menomonie

I was, however, unable to find out why this particular site was chosen to post this sign which remembers the experience of the entire state.  (I have not found anything comparable at any Wisconsin location, including the capital, Madison.)

Local Men Wounded in the Second Battle of the Marne

I decided to do some deep Googling about Menomonie to see if there was anything particularly notable about the wartime experiences of the town.  At the time of the Great War, the local population was about 5,000.  The local economy was apparently all of the small business character, including a lumber yard and a brick works and support for the surrounding farms.  There doesn't seem to have been much in the way of war industries.

The town's main involvement in the war was in providing manpower (and lives) for the AEF.  I would assume there were the ususal civilian expressions of support for the boys over there, but I haven't come across any articles about this online. 556 men served in the various military branches and 23 paid the ultimate sacrifice.  Although these are small numbers compared to the state or  the nation,  they do seem to show a significantly higher per-capita  participation in the war and—probably as an extension of that trend—a higher rate of losses among the town's young men. 

Lt. Mark Heller of Menomonie,
KIA in the St. Mihiel Offensive

I still can't say why the marker was placed in Menomonie, but it's pretty clear the town—despite the state's divisions mentioned in it—strongly supported the war.  In that, it was representative of Wisconsin and almost all of America, especially its small towns of the period.

Sources:  Wikipedia; Various Wisconsin and Monomonie Publications