WWI, The Navy & New York
AMERICA’S WWI STORY IS A NEW YORK STORY
Involvement:
20% of all doughboys come from New York State.Recruitment:
The Navy commissions and New York builds a full-size wooden battleship in Union Square.Transport:
Four of every five Doughboys ship to France from New York Harbor.City Scope:
Manhattan: a huge recruiting center. Bronx: Pelham Bay Park, a naval training station. Brooklyn: the Navy Yard. Staten Island: a military hospital. Queens: where the first U.S. combat troops depart.Post War:
New York is the scene of joyous returns in 1919 and in 1921, plays a solemn role in the return of thousands of U.S. war dead, including the first Unknown Soldier.Remembrance:
200 WWI memorials are erected in the five boroughs, more than for any other U.S. conflict.