Orange County hosts ceremony to honor 40 County residents who perished on same day during World War I

Soldiers died during Battle of Hindenburg Line in Northern France

Goshen, N.Y. – Orange County Executive Steven M. Neuhaus and the County’s Veterans Service Agency (VSA) hosted a ceremony on Friday, September 29^th to honor the 40 County residents who died more than 100 years ago on the same day during World War I.

joannaporr2023vetsday Orange County hosts ceremony to honor 40 County residents who perished on same day during World War I — (From left to right) Mario Acosta of Chester, Orange County Historian Johanna Porr and John Cronin of Newburgh. Acosta and Cronin are part of the East Coast Dough Boys, a World War I reenactment group

The 40 Orange County residents served in Companies E and L of the 107th Regiment of the 27th Division and were killed in action during the Battle of the Hindenburg Line in Northern France. The event included the unveiling of a new memorial monument which includes the names of the Orange County residents who died on that fateful day.

Major Jacob Morris, a history instructor at the United States Military Academy at West Point, served as the guest speaker.

“The Battle of the Hindenburg Line is one of the most famous engagements that occurred during World War I,” Neuhaus said. “We will never forget the sacrifices that these 40 soldiers made in defense of the freedoms we all enjoy every day in America and here in Orange County.”

After an intense, 56-hour-long attack, Allied forces breached the Hindenburg Line, the last line of German defenses, on September 29^th, 1918. The Hindenburg Line was a heavily fortified zone running several miles behind the active front between the north coast of France and Belgium. By September 1918, the Hindenburg Line consisted of six defensive lines approximately 6,000 yards deep, equipped with lengths of barbed wire, concrete emplacements and firing positions. Breaking through the Hindenburg Line helped the U.S. and its allies win World War I, which ended on November 11^th, 1918.

“The U.S. Military Academy’s Department of History is grateful for the opportunity to join in honoring Orange County’s fallen,” Morris said. “These American Soldiers perished serving their country and, even 105 years later, we remember their sacrifice.”

For more information, contact Justin Rodriguez, Assistant to the County Executive for Communications and Media Relations at 845.291.3255 or jrodriguez@orangecountygov.com.