Veterans Day was originally called Armistice Day, the day World War I ended. Today we should remember those veterans who served so we can be free. Bellevue has provided its share of citizens as soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines to the defense of the United States of America. From the Revolutionary War, we had four Bellevue soldiers fighting back then, Bellevue residents have displayed their valor for two hundred and thirty three years. Forty Bellevue residents have given their lives for freedom around the world. Our military history records currently have 711 men and women from Bellevue listed as having served our country in time of war and during times of peace. You probably have a family member or neighbor you know who served in the military. Meet some neighbors you may not know.
James Robinson was given the part of Bellevue called Sandy Bottom, from Fremont Avenue to the City line for his service in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. Chaplain Hugh Brackinridge was given Sidney for service in the Army, that’s Bellevue from Fremont to the Avalon line. He left Bellevue in 1799 when he was appointed Judge of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. John Wilkins Jr. was then assigned Sidney, for his service in the Continental Army. Bellevue was a part of what was called the Depreciation Lands, or land given to soldiers because our country didn’t have enough money to pay the army at the time. J.C. Schaffnit and 10 others served during the Spanish American War. He was later elected to Council and served as President of Council.
You may have known Charles Delcroix, he lived on North Balph Avenue. He was a bombardier, with 35 combat missions between August and December 1944. He participated in the first daylight raid on Berlin Germany. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal w/ 5 oak leaf clusters. He graduated Bellevue High School in 1942, two years before his valorous service. I’ll bet you didn’t know Joe Giovengo. He was gassed with Mustard Gas during World War I. He came home but died in 1920 after being discharged. His son John fought in World War II in the same unit, the 80th Infantry Division.
We had four McCarthy brothers serve in World War II and Korea, Charles, William, Robert, and Theodore. Robert was killed in the Battle of the Bulge. Theodore was an aerial gunner. His plane was lost on September 15, 1943. He was discovered 55 years later in the jungle of New Guinea. His remains along with another of his crew were buried in Arlington National Cemetery December 11, 1998. John McCloskey Jr. was a B-25 bomber pilot. He was shot down over Burma on his 53rd mission on May 20, 1944. He spent 11 months and 10 days in a bamboo cell in Rangoon, Burma.
John Bragdon served in Co. K 123rd Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers also known as Watt & Butchers Infantry during the Civil War. He was later elected Burgess, we call them Mayor’s now. We have a shelter in Memorial Park named after him. Col Thomas Bayne started Co. H 136th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, the Keystone Infantry. He fought in the battles of Fredricksburg and Chancellorsville. He was elected as a Bellevue Councilman in 1870, and then District Attorney for Allegheny County, he was then elected to the 45th Congress and succeeding six Congresses.
During World War II Melvin Stock was in the Army Office of Strategic Services (OSS), we call it the CIA today. He was in Paris 3 days before liberation and was responsible for taking hundreds of German prisoners prior to the allied forces entering the city. He didn’t do it by himself; he was working with the French resistance. He was elected Mayor of Bellevue in 1975.
Ronald Young was at the Chosen Reservoir in Korea, he later served as a Bellevue Police officer for a couple of decades. Murl Thompson was on ship during the Bay of Pigs before joining the Department of Public Works, the Fire Department and becoming the Commander of the Robert D. Fleming Post 2454 Veterans of Foreign Wars. Robert David Fleming was a member of the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I. He was Killed in Action in France with 14 other Bellevue Residents.
Elmer Hohn was a Navy flight radar operator aboard the Valley Forge between 1949 and 1953. He had 60 flights off that aircraft carrier and his units exploits were made famous by the book and movie titled “The Bridges at Toko-Ri”. Elmer remembers when the author James Michener was on board where he collected his stories for the book
Captain Levi Bird Duff served in the Army in France during World War I. He became the first Commander of the North Boro’s Post 116 American Legion. The bridge over I-279 on Center Avenue is named after this Bellevue solider.
We had two soldiers Killed in Action in Vietnam. Charles Downey was killed in action by small arms fire on May 17, 1967 while serving with the 196th Light Infantry Brigade in Quang Tin South Vietnam. John Brooks served with the 1st Aviation Brigade he was killed on April 19, 1968 when his helicopter was involved in a battle and crashed in Phu Bon South Vietnam.
The War on Terror has also claimed two soldiers from Bellevue. Robert Hall Jr. served with the 467th Engineer Battalion when he was killed in a car bombing in Ad Dujayl, Iraq while guarding the gate at his military base. Thomas Vandling was in the Army also and was killed when his vehicle ran over a mine in Iraq.
From the American Revolution to the War on Terror residents of Bellevue have given their time, talents, treasures and lives for freedom around the world. As we remember those who served our country in uniform let us remember that freedom is not free.
Make sure those you know are remembered.
