A massive American flag, the French national anthem and a few dozen veterans all marked a special anniversary in Springfield, Massachusetts.
It was all part of “Apremont Day” over the weekend, celebrating a regiment filled with western Mass. men who made history in World War I and other conflicts.
It's not every day you hear “La Marseillaise” in western Massachusetts, but of all the spots to hear it in, the Apremont Triangle in Springfield makes the most sense.
For years, the Metro Center intersection has honored one of nation’s storied military regiments, the 104th Infantry – 100 years to be exact. Experts say the patch of land was dedicated a century ago to the regiment that made history during World War I and beyond.
Brian Willette, clad in an historic uniform bearing the regiment’s Yankee Division patch, led the small park’s rededication Sunday.
“In the spring of 1918, Germany launches a major offensive known as ‘the drive against Paris,’ in a desperate effort to force France to surrender before most of the Americans can arrive on the battlefield,” he said. “There’s one problem with that plan: the Yankee Division is there to meet him.
During The Great War, the 104th was part of the 26th “Yankee” Division: the first full Army division to arrive in France.
As Willette and others explained, the 104th proved to be pivotal in April 1918. Fighting in The Ardennes near Apremont, the regiment faced an aggressive push from some of Germany’s fiercest storm troopers.
The 104th counter attacked and fought fiercely, becoming not just the first American unit to earn a French “Croix de Guerre” – but the first to earn an honor like it from a foreign power in general.
Playing the part of General Fenelon Passaga, David Jubinville helped reenact the 1918 ceremony and medal pinning on Sunday, all while wearing a replica blue French uniform, with all the layers that come with it on a relatively warm day.
“It's not too bad! I'm feeling pretty comfortable today with it on,” he said. “It's just an honor to be able to be asked by Brian to do this.”
The event itself was put on, in part, by the Yankee Division Veterans Association of Western Massachusetts. Helping lead its Holyoke chapter, Willette said he decided years ago to make honoring the regiment and division his mission, given his own time in the 104th and his family’s military history.
As retired Sgt. Major Jim Wile said, the regiment’s legacy extends well beyond – and well after – World War I. It also dates as far back as the 17th century as a volunteer militia that would later fight in the Revolutionary War.
“… this little park has that significance and the 104thInfantry, who can trace their roots back to 1639, continued after that as National Guard units that populated Western Massachusetts,” he explained. “They split into two battalions, the first battalion: the 104th Infantry out of Westfield, the second battalion: the 104th Infantry out of Chicopee, with five units each scattered throughout the Berkshires and Western Mass., from Greenfield to Agawam to North Adams to Pittsfield: all around the area.”
Other feats of the 104th included fighting in the Battle of the Bulge and pushing the final German occupying forces in France out in 1944, the latter of which earned the 104th another Croix de Guerre, Willette said.
The Yankee Division itself overran German forces and liberated of the “Gusen” concentration camp in Austria.
As Wile explains, the 104th also sported a second battalion, in which he and Willette served.
That battalion would be consolidated long after World War II, with the 104th itself folded into the 181st in the mid-2000s (at least one 104th company was deployed to Iraq in 2004, but not the whole battalion, Willette told WAMC).
As veterans like retired Colonel John Paciorek of the 2-104th say, it all makes preserving history and memories all the more important.
“It's good to see [the memory] renewed and rededicated, as it should be, to show and teach your young people what life is all about,” he said. “History is being forgotten today, and that's a tragedy by itself.”
Speaking after the ceremony, Willette said he agrees. He said it’s why he and the veterans association have spent time enshrining memories of the regiment as best they can.
Willette and others also helped organize a similar ceremony held at another 104th memorial in Westfield that weekend.
“I think we're everyday people, and we just see that that it's necessary to remember where we came from, to know where you're going,” Willette explained. “… remembering the sacrifice: there's nothing more important than to remember sacrifice of those who’ve gone before us.”
In addition to raising a Yankee Division flag Sunday, the triangle near the Springfield Museums also sports a plaque honoring the 104th. Other displays include a mural at the Massachusetts State House depicting the 1918 Croix de Guerre ceremony.
