The Syracuse Polish-American Veterans Documentation Project

About the memorial

Dedicated to Polish Legion of American World War Veterans

at Kosciuszko Park in Syracuse, NY

This memorial bears the first initial and last name of:

• 10 persons under a line “DIED IN ACTION”

• 118 persons under a line, which we believe were the members of what has become Post 14 of the PLAV.

 

Of the 118 veterans listed, 22 names have asterisks/stars ["*"] next to them.  Of the persons that we were able to identify, the only common thread is that they died between the years of 1926 and 1936.  It may be that these veterans died before the monument was officially dedicated.
 

Of those ten persons that are listed as “DIED IN ACTION” we have been able to identify nine.  To go to the 10 names, click here.

 

Of the 118 names, we have been able to identify many, but not all.  To go to the 118 names, click here.

 

A May 19, 1935 article, "Polish Legion Will Dedicate Monument" in the Syracuse American, wrote about the memorial that was to be dedicated on May 26 (thank you to Anna Foley, whose assistance with research located this article):

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Elaborate plans for dedication of a new monument at Kosciusko Park,
at Park and Lakeview ave., are slated for next Sunday [May 26, 1935] by members
Of the Syracuse Post of Polish Legion of American Veterans, donors
of the memorial.
Principal feature of the monument is a huge British gun which was
captured by the Germans during the World War and later recaptured by
the American forces. A 35-foot flagpole and a memorial tablet with
the names of Polish veterans of Onondaga County who lost their lives
in the conflict have been set up back of the gun. 

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According to Post 14 members Henry Sienkiewicz (U.S. Army Air Force, WWII) and Bob Jachim (U.S. Navy and U.S. Army, Korean War), the artillery piece located near this monument was taken for scrap during World War II (May 21, 2017).

 

Another article was printed on the day after the memorial's dedication in the May 27, 1935 Syracuse Herald. That article, entitled "Syracuse Honors Memories of Heroes; Tablet to Polish-Americans is Unveiled," described the ceremony.

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The article text, beneath heading "Syracuse Polish Americans Honor World War Dead: Col. E.H. Lanza Speaks and Mayor Marvin Unveils Memorial," was the following:

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  Syracuse Polish-Americans lined West Genesee Street and Park Avenue at Kosciusko [sic] Park Sunday afternoon at the unveiling of a tablet in honor of Polish-Americans killed in the World War and dedication of a cannon used in the war as part of the memorial. 
  Col. Conrad H. Lanza, chief of staff of the 98th Division was the principal speaker at the ceremony. Recalling that Gen. Thaddeus Kosciusko [sic] and Count Casimir Pulaski were in large measure responsible for the military success of the colonies in the Revolutionary War, the praised the service of the United States and Poland in the cause of liberty. 
The memorial, a boulder on which are written names of Polish-American soldiers who died in the service of the United States, was unveiled by Mayor Rolland B. Marvin. An American eagle surmounts the boulder.
  Three drum and bugle corps and a band participated in the parade through West Genesee Street to the park. Paul J. Mahonik, commander of Post 14, Polish Legion, American Veterans, was marshal and in the line of march were:
  Drum Corps of the Veterans of Foreign Wars; Utica Post of the Polish Legion; Italian-American Veterans; drum corps of post 45, American Legion; Sons of Polish Alliance; Voiture 359 of the 40 and 8, American Legion [Forty and Eight, a World War I veteran's organization of the American Legion, named for the French boxcars that had “40/8” stenciled on it, denoting its capacity to hold either forty men or eight horses]; East Syracuse Boys Band; Eastwood Boy Scouts; Polish Boy Scouts; Polish Girl Scouts; Sons of Polish Legion drum corps; Polish gold star mothers; the Polish Legion and its auxiliary and the Veterans of the Polish Army and its auxiliary.

 

The article also included five photos, with the following captions:

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• top photo, "Col. Conrad H. Lanza, chief of staff, 98th division, addresses Polish-American Syracuseans [sic] at the unveiling Sunday, of a memorial in honor of Polish-Americans who died in the service of the United States."

• second from top, "Mayor Rolland B. Marvin, unveiling the memorial tablet in Kosciusko [sic] Park which will keep alive memory of the heroism of dead Polish-American soldiers."

• third from top, "The Sons of the Polish Legion Drum Corps marches in the parade at Kosciusko [sic] Park before the ceremony in honor of Polish-American soldiers killed in action."

• fourth from the top, "The throngs of Polish-Americans who attended the unveiling are shown lining the streets near Kosciuscko [sic] Park. The cannon used by Polish-American soldiers in the World War is in the background."

• fifth from the top, the bottom photo, "Polish Girl Scouts in the line of march are shown during parade. Herald Staff Photo."

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