BAYSIDE WAR MEMORIAL

by Kevin Walsh

Traffic rushing past on Northern Boulevard on the small triangle formed by 207th Street and the Clearview Expressway service road find it easy to miss the Bayside War I memorial, a modest stone obelisk. The internet is quiet on the sculptor responsible for it, and even Kevin Fitzpatrick in his excellent World War I New York book ignores it. Yet, it’s a singular memorial and has an interesting history.

It was dedicated in 1928 and originally stood on 41st Avenue and 213th Street at the Bayside LIRR stationhouse. It was moved to Golden Park, 215th Place and 33rd Avenue, in 1974, but after it was vandalized there, it found its present locale in 1983. A petition has been circulated to have it returned to its original placement, with so far no success.

While the names of five Bayside soldiers who perished in WWI, the memorial is also a “living” memorial as it commemorates those who died in every international conflict since, including the Gulf War, which the last time I looked remained open-ended on the obelisk. (In Comments, fill me in on what entity has been making these changes over the years).

Two of the names on the obelisk are also commemorated on street signs. Corporal Kennedy honors a local mechanic:

Corporal William F. Kennedy (1893-1918) [was] an army mechanic killed in action during World War I (1914-1918). Kennedy was born and raised in Bayside, where his father was a police officer. After the war broke out, he joined the army, and began training at Fort Upton, the present site of the Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island. He was then stationed in France, where he served as a mechanic with the 107th Infantry Regiment, 27th Infantry Division. On September 30, 1918, Corporal Kennedy was killed while out on maneuvers. He is buried in the Somme American Cemetery in Bony, France. NYC Parks 

…while Corporal Stone Street honors Cpl. Charles B. Stone,  a Wall Street courier and a junior member of the Bayside Yacht Club before enlisting at age 20 when the USA entered WWI. and perished in France October 30, 1918. 

Since so many other persons honored on street signs have their full names inscribed, the same should hold for these servicemen. Until that happens, you will need to consult this memorial to see them.

Check out the ForgottenBook, take a look at the gift shop, and as always, “comment…as you see fit.”

7/24/18

4 comments

Joe Fliel July 24, 2018 - 11:47 am

“…while Corporal Stone Street honors Charles B. Stone [rank unknown]…

His rank was Corporal. That’s why the street is named “Corporal Stone Street”.

Reply
Kevin Walsh July 24, 2018 - 9:25 pm

All right. thx

Reply
Sergey Kadinsky July 25, 2018 - 7:54 am

The monument spelled Grenada wrong. This 1983 anti-communist action was one of the shortest “wars” we’ve fought.

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Peter July 25, 2018 - 4:35 pm

Seeing the monument’s (misspelled) reference to the Grenada conflict of 1983 reminds me of something odd I saw. In the fall of 2016 I moseyed around the small town of Waukon, Iowa for an hour or two. A monument in front of the courthouse honoring the war dead of Allamakee County listed the name of Russell Robinson, an Army Ranger and county resident who had died during the Grenada invasion.
Without crunching the numbers, it must have been a very improbable event for one of the 19 American deaths in the conflict to come from a county of less than 14,000.

Reply

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