On November 11, 1924 with great pomp and ceremony the World War Memorial Tablet was unveiled to the public on the Northern most point of Chelsea Parade. It was a dedication ceremony that should not be dismissed or forgotten.
According to the article of the Norwich Bulletin on November 23, 1924 there was a parade column of over 6,000 marchers and there was a program of “dignity and impressiveness that touched the hearts of the thousands gathered within sound of the voices of the speakers.”
The streets, spaces and lawns nearby were a solid mass of humanity and automobiles. The Gold Star Mothers float was given a position of advantage close to the stand.
There were speakers, hymns, anthems, songs, music interludes and prayers. Three memorial wreaths were placed and taps were sounded three times. But for me the greatest honor and most touching part of the reported ceremony was that of “First Selectman William S. Murray, who read the list of the 47 who made the supreme sacrifice and again the bugler blew Taps with an impressiveness that brought tears to the eyes of many.”
The following was the list:
Horace Hastings Allen, Dominick Barber, Irving Edwin Bogue, Anthony Clarence Bonin, Jr., Ernest John Bosney, William Brault, Durlin D. Bushnell, James L. Carver, Edwin H. Cohen, George A. Dawson, Albert Henry Dexter, Kerwin Doyle, William Morgan Durr, Robert O. Fletcher, Peter Gallan, Raymond E. Gibson, Fred B. Hasler, Harold R. Hotchkiss, Richard Edward Hourigan, Thomas Perry Johnson, Frederick Joseph Kelley, John McGrath, James Thomas Morrison, Michael J. Murphy, Isadore Nagdyman, James Joseph Nevins, Antonio Pancicco, Harry Pappagallio, James Henry Harrison Perrin, William E. Perry, Frederick W. Roessler, Arthur Schofield, Arthur Paul Schulz, Edward Francis Smigiel, William Alexander Stankiewicz, Rufus Hubbard Stanson, Leroy Amos Swan, Herbert Clifford Taylor, John Ulanovich, William A Weeden, George Constantine Weltin, Frank Alfred Wilcox, Charles W. Willey, Walter James Woodmansee, Charles Zdancewicz, Peter Zeneski and Donald Fraser.
Then there was a benediction and the Star Spangled Banner was played and with heads bared there was a renewed pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and for which it stands.
The next time you walk by the Northern Point of Chelsea Parade and see the markers standing in their stark cluster. Think of how many men and women, children, families and friends they each represent. Please don’t let their humanity be forgotten.
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