Pilsen is creating a memorial for the 97th Infantry Division.

A new memorial is being built for the 97th Infantry Division, which helped liberate Czechoslovakia in April and May of 1945. David Foud designed the memorial. It should be finished by the end of April, along with the landscaping of the park on Křimická Street. The city's Public Property Administration is in charge of the project. They will pay more than 1.3 million CZK for the memorial and the park improvements. The family of a veteran of the 97th Infantry Division contributed 20,000 USD to the project.

"There is a strong connection between the city and the veterans and their families that has lasted for many years. It is our job to not break that bond, but to strengthen it. That is why I am very pleased that a project has been created to build a new memorial to the liberators of the 97th Infantry Division. I would like to thank everyone who is involved in its creation," said the Mayor of Pilsen Roman Zarzycký.

The idea to create a memorial to the soldiers of the 97th Infantry Division came up during a meeting with the families of these soldiers. Mrs. Christina Pieper Bigelow was the one who came up with the idea. This division, which reached the borders of Pilsen, allowed the 16th Armored Division to reach Pilsen and thus helped the liberation of Pilsen in the spring of 1945. However, Pilsen had no memorial yet. We asked Mr. Foud, an architect who had already made a similar memorial in Bdeněves near Kozolupy, to design it. We then chose the final design together with the descendants of the veterans from three options," said Pavel Bosák, deputy mayor of Pilsen, who led the negotiations with the families of the veterans.

"We looked for a good place to put the memorial with people from the Conception and Development Department of the City of Pilsen. The 97th Infantry Division arrived in Pilsen from the direction of Křimice, so we chose the park in Skvrňany, which is big enough to put the memorial," said Aleš Tolar, the deputy mayor of Pilsen for Transport and Environment.

"We want to finish the work in April so that a memorial ceremony can be held here on May 3 as part of the celebrations of the liberation of Pilsen," said Richard Havelka, head of the Forest, Green and Water Management Department of the Public Farm Administration of the City of Pilsen.

"The memorial's shape is based on the route of the 97th Infantry Division in Europe. It starts at the French port of Le Havre and ends in Pilsen. The memorial grows in height by 214 levels, which represent the 214 soldiers of the division who died on the European battlefield. It is made from a large piece of weather-resistant steel that is eight millimeters thick. The panel has a cutout of the 97th Infantry Division's emblem, the trident in the coat of arms. Each piece of the panel has the name of the city the finial represents and the date the 97th Infantry Division entered that city. On the bottom edge is the number of casualties that occurred on that date," explained the memorial's creator, David Foud, to describe the memorial's design and meaning.

The memorial will be made of steel elements anchored into concrete footings. The paved areas of the park will then have a clay surface partially paved with granite pavers. The memorial is more than 5 meters long and up to 2.14 meters high. The project also includes two new benches and an information desk. The Public Farm Administration of the City of Pilsen will pay the company FoxySteel s.r.o. CZK 729,954.80, including VAT, for the memorial. The company inkasta s.r.o., the contractor of the construction, will pay CZK 598,949, including VAT, for the park landscaping and installation of the monument.

The 97th Infantry Division (97th Infantry Division), nicknamed the "Trident Division," arrived in Czechoslovakia on April 24, 1945. They then freed the town of Cheb on April 25, 1945. The division continued its advance through Czechoslovakia until May 6, 1945, when it reached the outskirts of Pilsen. This paved the way for the 16th Armored Division, which liberated the city of Pilsen on the same day. During its advance through Czechoslovakia, the 97th Infantry Division lost at least 50 soldiers. The division's total casualties for the entire war amounted to 214 soldiers. The division did not become involved in the war until the very end, arriving in Europe on March 27, 1945. This division is famous for being the last to fire a shot on the European battlefield during World War II. The 97th Infantry Division is one of the few American divisions that fought in both the European and Pacific theaters during World War II.