By Gabriel Rom
On a damp and chilly Wednesday morning, bagpipes pierced the air as elected officials, local veterans and community leaders gathered around Frank Kowalinski Post No. 4 to honor the post’s namesake with a new sign called Frank Kowalinski Way on Maspeth Avenue between 61st and 64th streets.
“The Frank Kowalinski Post is a place that many in the Maspeth community know well. Now that block, too, will don Frank Kowalinski’s name,” said City Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley (D-Glendale), who introduced the bill to rename the street in the Council earlier this year.
Kowalinski, a first-generation Polish-American was born in 1892 and grew up on Clinton Avenue in Maspeth. He was the first U.S. Army soldier of Polish descent to be killed in combat during World War I.
“Today we honor Frank Kowalinski and the many members of the Frank Kowalinski Post, whose dedication and selflessness have kept Maspeth, Queens and New York City thriving for centuries,” Crowley added. “For everyone who comes near, they will now recognize this street and know who he was.”
Mateusz Stasiek, deputy counsel of Poland, noted that Poland celebrates Nov. 11 as its Independence Day.
“Why do we celebrate this national holiday together?” Stasiek asked. “Because we were on the same side, because we share the same values, because we love freedom and we feel obliged for freedom whenever and wherever it is in danger. Just like Kowalinski. He, too, felt obliged to fight for freedom in Europe and he laid down his young life for his cause.”
Kowalinski, a private in C Company of 328th Infantry Division, was severely wounded, most likely from an enemy machine ambush near Verdun in 1917. He was hospitalized and wrote an optimistic letter with the aid of an Army chaplain to his mother, in which he said he hoped to be home soon. On Nov. 20, 1918, Kowalinski’s family received word of their son’s death. He died at the age of 28, making him the first Army soldier of Polish descent to be killed in combat.
“Frank Kowalinski represented all that was good and decent from our newly arrived immigrant population,” said Fred Gundel, the senior commander of the Kowalinski Post.
Kowalinski is one of 25 men from Maspeth who were killed during World War I. Their names are inscribed on Maspeth’s WW1 Monument on 72nd Street and Grand Avenue.
As the ceremony concluded a procession began down the Avenue where a wreath was hung.
“We’re incredibly happy. It’s an appropriate memorial for his service,” said John Cennamo, the senior vice commander of the Kowalinski Post.
Reach reporter Gabriel Rom by e-mail at grom@
