Page 27 - Wallingford Magazine Issue 53 Early Spring 2025

Wallingford casualties. Born in Clarmont-Fer-
rand, Pey-de-Dome, France to an American
father and French mother, he only lived in
Wallingford for about two years, yet he con-
sidered it his home town. While rising to the
command of the Lafayette Escadrille, a group
of, primarily Ivy League young men, he was
credited with shooting down 17 German
planes, although his records showed over
40 kills, many of which were behind the Ger-
man lines, which could not have the double
verification that the French required. He was
shot down near Maron, in the Toul Sector on
May 19, 1918, while coming to the aid of a
fellow aviator, and is buried in the Lafayette
Escadrille Memorial Cemetery in Marnes-la-
Coquette, 12 miles west of Paris.
Now that Spring weather seems to be start-
ing, please take the opportunity to explore
the upper portion of Harrison Park to learn
more about each of the young men who gave
their all over 100 years ago to help save the
world from the German-Ottoman axis. Per-
haps, quoting William Neal MacKenzie, a
long-time, bygone Wallingford native and
historian, “People who rest and picnic today
in the shade of these tall trees might reflect
as Rudyard Kipling did when he wrote these
words as the second stanza of his poem, “Re-
cessional”:

"The tumult and the shouting dies;
The captains and the kings depart;
Still stands thine ancient sacrifice,
An humble and contrite heart:
Lord God of Hosts be with us yet,
Lest we forget,
Lest we forget."

As a historian and former Scouter, I sincerely
thank Noah for taking on this project to re-
fresh part of Wallingford’s very rich history,
and to make a very nice park even more invit-
ing to the people of Wallingford.

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