Tioga County’s World War I heroes remembered on the Armistice centennial

“Time will not dim the glory of their deeds,” is a quote by General John J. Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) on the Western Front in World War I.

Nov. 11 is Veterans Day as well as the one hundredth anniversary of the signing of the armistice that ended World War I. 

World War I, often referred to as “The Great War” or “The war to end all wars,” was our nation’s first major overseas war. More than 116,000 American lives were lost in the 18 months mobilized on European soil and more than 204,000 were wounded in some of the bloodiest battles in military history. For example, the Meuse-Argonne, the final Allied offensive of the war, lasted 47 days until Nov. 11, and took the lives of some of our Tioga County heroes.      

Among those killed in action are at least 25 Tioga County doughboys, a name affectionately coined for the American soldier during World War I, and whose names are inscribed on the World War I monument located at the Tioga County Veterans Memorial Park in Owego. 

One doughboy, Archie Short of Apalachin, and a descendant of some of Tioga County’s earliest settlers, worked as a farmer before enlisting. A U.S. Army private in the 327th Infantry Regiment, 82nd Infantry Division, Short, age 27, lost his life in France on Oct. 10, 1918, and is buried overseas in the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery.  

Harry Munn was a Waverly High School student at the time of his enlistment. According to newspaper records, Munn spent his twentieth birthday in France on Aug. 9, 1918, and wrote home to say that he could not share how he spent the day. Shortly after, on Sept. 6, 1918, Munn was killed in action on a French battlefield. He is buried in Tioga Point Cemetery in Athens, Pa. 

Corporal George Mallery of Smithboro was one of the first Tioga County soldiers to be sent to France. Sergeant Mallery was 29 when he lost his life near Saint- Juvin, France during the Meuse-Argonne offensive, and is buried in the Smithboro Cemetery.

According to a newspaper report from May 13, 1918, John Sittelotta was the first Owego soldier killed in France, and where a headline announced, “John Sittelotta gives life for world’s freedom.”

Sittelotta shipped out with the first contingent in September 1917 and died from wounds he received in action. He now rests in the Somme American Cemetery.

According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, at the height of the American military involvement in the war, influenza and pneumonia sickened up to 40 percent of personnel and killed more Americans during the war than did enemy weapons.

Such is the story of Arden Kelsey, who died from pneumonia in France. Kelsey, the first Candor youth to die in the war, was a 1908 graduate of Candor Free Academy. Kelsey is buried at Spencer’s Evergreen Cemetery and the American Legion Post 907 is named after him.

Many parents or family members did not hear of their loved ones deaths until after the Armistice. Such was the case for the parents of Ellsworth Whitley. Whitley, with the approval of his parents, enlisted when he was just 17, and died while serving in France.    

A newspaper headline, dated Nov. 20, 1918, stated, “Saddened by report of their son’s death, while happy over peace.” Whitley’s mother would have been one of the first recognized as a Gold Star Mother.

Frank Zoltowski, a graduate of Waverly High School, enlisted at age 26, three weeks after the U.S. entered the war on April 6, 1917. Private Zoltowski, who served in the medical corps, died on Aug. 9, 1918 on a French battlefield. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

An 1898 Waverly High School graduate and 1905 Columbia University Medical College graduate, Dr. Paul E. Betowski, was an assistant surgeon at the Bath, N.Y. State Soldiers’ Home before enlisting, and a member of the Medical Officers Reserves Corp. A newspaper story stated he carried gas masks and other supplies to the men at the battlefront, and died in France on July 2, 1918. Captain Betowski is buried in St. James Cemetery in Waverly.  

A national World War I memorial in Washington, D.C. originally proposed for unveiling on Nov. 11, 2018, is currently still in the works and could be completed by 2020.  A National World War I Museum is located in Kansas City, Missouri.

A Veterans Day ceremony is scheduled for 11 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 11 at the V.F.W. Post 1371 in Owego, N.Y. All are welcome.