Honoring Stuyvesant High School’s Fallen Warriors

The Stuyvesant History Club, in conjunction with the Social Studies Department, held a ceremony celebrating the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War on Friday, November 9. The ceremony also served as a memorial to all Stuyvesant students and alumni who gave their lives during the war.

Assistant Principal of Social Studies Jennifer Suri, one of the organizers of the event, decided to have the event in order to help students recognize the significance of the war. “It was an important war; [...] it changed the world. Hundreds of thousands of Americans lost their lives in this war … [and] millions of others died as a result of this war,” she said. “I think it’s a much bigger event in Europe only because the fighting took place in Europe, but it was very much a global war. I think people just aren’t aware that we have this connection at Stuyvesant, especially as students, to the history of our country.”

Social studies teacher and author of the book “Rendezvous with Death,” David Hanna, opened the ceremony by giving an address about foreign volunteers in the First World War. His speech focused on France’s Lafayette Escadrille, an air force unit which was mainly comprised of American volunteers. Hanna, too, has a personal connection to the war, as his maternal grandfather, John Elco, served in France in 1918.

Following the opening address, 18 Stuyvesant students who gave their lives in the conflict were honored. Their names are as follows: Frank Neumark, David Rogers, Harold Russell, George Schnitzle, Irving Slicklen, Frank Stadler, Nicholas Stark, Charles Volk, Stephen Warner, Churchill Webster, Walter Antosch, Otto Brandt, John Brotherton, Frederick Fischer, Jacob Gilcher, William Gray, Calvin Greene, and Nathan Golob. A plaque with all their names is now displayed on the first floor.

Toward the end of the ceremony, a current student and relative of Nathan Golob, sophomore Clara Yuste, was presented with an American flag by Gunnery Sergeant Quimi and Sergeant Lee of the United States Marine Corps to honor the memory of her great-great-uncle. “The ceremony was especially meaningful to my grandfather who lives out of state and couldn’t make it that day,” Yuste said. “We’ve given him the flag that was presented to our family and he was very touched.”