“The bronze statue was designed and sculpted by
Joseph P. Pollia, a New York Sculptor. Pollia was born in Italy in 1893 moving to America he lived in the Bronx, NY, dying in 1954. He trained at the school connected to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Pollia sculpted many memorials during his life. Two notable sculptures of his are the Spanish-American memorial on San Juan Hill in Cuba and a statue of Union General Philip Henry Sheridan at Sheridan Square in NYC. In 1934, Pollia made a Peace Statue which depicted a WWI soldier, in Orange, MA. It was dedicated to the residents of Orange who served in the war. A bronze plaque at the base reads: ‘It Shall Not Be Again.’ In 1935 he made a sculpture of John Brown the abolitionist, and a slave boy, for John Brown’s farm in North Elba near Lake Placid, NY. Pollia was also the sculptor of the Tarrytown NY, World War Oe Memorialfamous Stonewall Jackson Statue at the Manassas (or Bull Run) Battlefield in Manassas Virginia for the National Park Service. It seems that public reaction from veterans and members of Confederate organizations caused a bit of a situation. It was dubbed the ‘third’ battle of Manassas, as people thought Jackson looked to much like Union General Ulysses S. Grant and that Jackson’s mount, Sorrel, looked more like a plow horse than a prize mount. Pollia responded to his critics with ‘patience, fortitude and gallantry” according to a local newspaper. He was a member of the National Sculpture Society and the National Academy of Design.
The Tarrytown World War One memorial is located at 18 North Broadway, The Landmark Condominiums. The site used to be the former Elizabeth Van Tassel House. The Monument facing North Broadway looks toward the Hudson River to the west.
The statue is a 10′ tall full-length figure of a uniformed World War I soldier. He stands at a gravesite. His left foot rests on a small hill and his left hand rests on his knee. He holds his rifle and his round helmet in his right hand as he looks down at the grave.
The base is rough grey granite about 4’x3′. 3 Sides have bronze plaques. The bronze plaque on the front of the memorial has a large eagle at the top and reads:
MEMORIAL
TO THOSE WHO PAID
THE SUPREME SACRIFICE
IN OUR/WORLD WAR
UNVEILED MAY 30th 1927
Russell V Cantwell
James F Dick Jr
Stachy Montanaro
Kenneth Pollock
Lawrence G Spencer
Lester Storms
Waslaw Wolpiuk
William C Wright Jr.
LET THOSE WHO COME AFTER
SEE TO IT
THAT THEIR NAMES BE NOT
FORGOTTEN
On the north and south face of the memorial are a pair of plaques dedicated to the men of Tarrytown (A thu K (north) (L thru Z (south), Glenville and East View.
TO HONOR THOSE OF TARRYTOWN, NY
WHO SERVED THEIR COUNTRY IN
1917 – THE WORLD WAR -1919
There is a small marker for Russell V. Cantwell – US Navy located about 20 feet diagonally from the monument under a tree. Cantwell died at sea.” (Adventures in History)
Taken with a Sony A7IV and Sony FE 28-75 f3.5-5.6 OSS.
