A central memorial.At a neglected spot in Manhattan's Central Park, south of the Naumburg Bandshell, stands a grove of trees resembling a deserted churchyard. Scattered across it are fourteen memorial stones. Twelve still bear a brass plaque stating, "Memorial Tree World War 1917-1918." Ten trees remain. A boulder identifies the men who died in action as belonging to the 307th Infantry, 77th Division. The Division was from New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. and trained at Camp Upton Camp Upton was an installation of the United States Army located in Yaphank on Long Island in Suffolk County, New York. History Camp Upton was named after Emory Upton, a Union general of the Civil War and was created in 1917 to house and train soldiers for the United in Yaphank, Long Island. Military critics of the time thought this division was composed of the poorest fighting materials in the US, residents of New York City. The first US Army division to arrive in France in World War I, it prevented the Germans from capturing Paris during the Battle of Chateau-Theirry (July 18, 1918). The "Lost Battalion Lost Battalion, in World War I, popular name given to those American units of the 77th Division—six companies of the 1st and 2d battalions of the 308th Infantry, one company of the 307th Infantry, and the platoons of the 306th Machine Gun Battalion—that " was the popular name given to eight units of this division, including the 307th. Consisting of roughly 550 men, the 307th was isolated by German forces in the Argonne Forest in October 1918, and lost nearly 200 men. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The plaques also bear this information: "Registered/American Forestry Association/Washington, DC." After World War I, the American Forestry Association The American Forestry Association (AFA) is a volunteer organization established in the United States in 1940 with headquarters in Washington, D.C.. The organization acts as a clearinghouse for environmental organizations working to preserve world tree growth. (now American Forests American Forests is a nonprofit conservation organization that promotes healthy forests and urban tree planting. The organization was established in 1875 as the American Forestry Association, by physician/horticulturist John Aston Warder and a group of like-minded citizens ) promoted the planting of memorial trees. The Central Park trees were planted in the spring of 1921 by President Harding. |
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