Frank Jacob Szot was 22 when he was killed in France in 1918.
Frank J. Szot, of Chicopee, killed in World War IThis is part of an occasional series dedicated to names that grace the fields, arenas and playgrounds of the Pioneer Valley.
Szot Memorial Park, Chicopee’s busiest and best-known recreation area, honors the memory of Frank Jacob Szot, the first Chicopee soldier killed in action in World War I.
Szot, a 22-year-old infantryman, was killed on April 12, 1918, while fighting as a member of the Massachusetts National Guard’s 104th regiment, which repelled a German advance in the Battle of Bois Brule, France. The French government later decorated the regiment with its Croix de Guerre, the first time such an honor was bestowed to an American unit.
Szot enlisted in the National Guard on May 17, 1917. He was assigned to Company G, 104th Infantry and its 26th Division – known as the Yankee Division.
He was sent into action in Europe on Oct. 3, 1917.
The Yankee Division, manned by New Englanders, had 1,581 soldiers killed in action in World War I and 12,077 wounded.
Szot Park opened with dedication ceremonies on Oct. 14, 1939. The dedication included the unveiling of a lighted fountain which still stands as a memorial to those who served from Chicopee in World War I.
In his book, “Images of America – Chicopee in the 1940s,” historian Stephen R. Jendrysik wrote of the dedication:
“The damp, cloudy day fit the times, especially for Chicopee’s Polish-Americans, whose homeland had fallen to Adolph Hitler and Josef Stalin in the closing days of September ... Events of the day honored heroes of the last war, while the speeches confirmed the looming specter of another war.”
Szot Park has another monument, dedicated to World War II veterans from the predominantly Polish “Bemisuwka” neighborhood off Front Street. That area included Bemis Pond, which became the center for recreational activities when a 63-acre tract was acquired for the city from the Bemis family estate. It was called Bemis Park until the dedication to the memory of Frank Szot in 1939.
Ten years later, a grandstand was added to Szot Park. Since then, it has been an outstanding site for high school football, baseball and softball. The park has hosted state championships in high school sports, plus regional and state tournaments in American Legion baseball.