Refurbished WWI Memorials for Sleepy Hollow

Armando “Chick” Galella seems to measure in life in good deeds and monuments.

As Sleepy Hollow's sole surviving Pearl Harbor veteran, Galella occasionally sets the village up with a new park () or honors Gold Star Mothers. Now he’s orchestrated the restoration of a series of formerly displaced memorials to a dozen WWI veterans.

"He seems to do something like this every year," Village Administrator Anthony Giaccio said.

In 2006, a tornado nearly 1,000 feet wide with winds at 157 mph tore up Beekman Avenue and uprooted many of our old oak trees. Below them were a series of a WWI plaques at W.L. Morse School which now had no home.

Galella, just in time for this Memorial Day, has had the 12 small round bronze plaques decidated to the men (and one woman, a nurse) who died during the first world war and hailed from North Tarrytown reset in concrete foundations. They will surround the big memorial rock in the Morse school playground. 

Those honored:

• Kenneth Pollock
• John Kelly
• Maurice Powers
• Kenneth Fletcher
• Harry Dingee
• Daniel Clemons
• Howard Lawson
• Lester Storms
• Waslow Walpiuk
• Anna Norton
• Michael Santz
• Harold Scofield

The DPW will be planting there and adding stonework all around the area that is now blocked off with orange mesh. The plaques will get a dusting off before their official debut on Memorial Day.

Of course it’s just all in the line of duty for Galella, who just wanted to let people know but didn’t really want any credit.

Like us on Facebook  |  Follow us on Twitter  |  Sign up for our newsletter