Post honors centennial of WWI, American Legion

Post honors centennial of WWI, American Legion

Legionnaire Russell Becker has a collection of World War I memorabilia that he enjoys showcasing to other war enthusiasts and for educational purposes. He shares an interest in military history with Legionnaire Amery Vasso, as the two are Civil War re-enactors; their shared passion sparked an idea in Vasso that would allow Becker and others to display their war memorabilia –  to host a public event that recognized the 100th anniversary of America’s entry into the Great War, honored the namesake of Post 91 in Wharton, N.J., and highlighted The American Legion’s upcoming centennial.

William J. Hocking Post 91’s World War I Commemoration event was held April 1 at the post. It allowed attendees to view World War I artifacts, listen to presentations, and read about the history of Post 91 and of The American Legion.

“Without World War I, more than likely, The American Legion wouldn’t exist,” said Vasso, Post 91 adjutant. “(Post 91’s) event showed the community how The American Legion came to be, the reason for our upcoming centennial, and it really brought the community together to focus on our first major event of the 20th century. World War I was when America made its global presence known, and that is significant.”

Poster boards displayed a brief history on the founding of The American Legion, which Vasso adapted from the Legion’s centennial website ( www.centennial.legion.org) along with background information on Post 91’s namesake. Pvt. William J.  Hocking, a native of Wharton, was killed in action on Nov. 1, 1918, in France, just 10 days before the armistice. The post was chartered in April 1928, and of the more than 300 Legion posts in New Jersey, 116 are centennial posts.

Chuck Robbins, the Department of New Jersey’s Centennial Committee chairman,  handed out Legion centennial brochures and showcased the Department of New Jersey’s centennial challenge coin, sold for $10 apiece, which has raised more than $17,000 toward the department’s centennial efforts of hosting a grand gala in the fall of 2018.

Douglas McVarish with the New Jersey World War I Centennial Committee discussed the role New Jersey played leading up to and during the war, where the 160 World War I memorials are located in the state and that more than 140,000 New Jersey men served in World War I, which included nearly 400 who were part of the Army’s 369th infantry regiment, known as the “Harlem Hellfighters.”

The Harlem Hellfighters was the first African-American infantry unit to fight in World War I. Richard Sears Walling, a historian, shared 174 photos and newspaper clippings of the regiment and its deployment to France. A number of American Legion posts were named after members of the Harlem Hellfighters, such as Post 5 in Washington, D.C., named after Lt. James Reese Europe, who is credited with introducing jazz to France.
World War I collectors displayed American uniforms, photos, bayonets, cartridge belts, rifles and helmets, along with German bayonets, recruiting posters, spiked and steel helmets, and hand grenades. Also on display was a 1919 American Legion school achievement coin with a doughboy on one side and the Legion emblem on the other. 

The display that intrigued Vasso and many others was that of Tom and Ellie Zaleski’s. Their table featured World War I medals, including a Distinguished Service Cross, a Gold Star medallion, a picture of a woman standing next to a gravesite, a 1930 Auxiliary membership card, a folded American flag, a photo of a ship and more. The items belonged to Tom’s grandmother Mary Rummell, who passed away in 1960, but he uncovered the treasures in a paper sack and drawer after the passing of his father.

Mary was part of the first – and only – all-expense paid trip by the U.S. government for World War I Gold Star mothers and widows (if they were not remarried) to visit the final resting places of their fallen loved ones. The pilgrimage spanned from 1930 to 1933, and nearly 6,700 women boarded ocean liners in New York for a departure to France, Belgium or England for the month-long journey. When Mary visited the gravesite of her son, Army Sgt. Walter Klinger, at the American military cemetery in Romague, France, in August of 1930, she was given a Gold Star medallion with her name on it, the U.S. flag draped over her son’s gravesite, and flowers to put in its place.

Other presenter were from the Wharton Historical Society; Picatinny Arsenal, which was founded in 1880 and specializes in the research, development and lifecycle of advanced conventional weapon systems and ammunition; the Daughters of the American Revolution; and the 102nd Cavalry Regiment Association, which shared uniforms and helmets from the Essex Troop, a group of horsemen formed in 1890 in Newark, N.J., who were called to active duty and served as military police during the war.

Vasso’s ability to obtain a large group of World War I historians and presenters for the event was the result of networking and reaching out to the community.
“We really believe in what The American Legion does, and the fact that what was created 100 years ago is still going is amazing,” Vasso said. “The founders of The American Legion created something that was able to endure and sustain itself.

“I believe what we accomplished here can be replicated by any post to honor the Legion’s centennial and showcase what The American Legion is all about.”