Heroes of the World War
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member Markerman62
N 28° 50.778 W 081° 09.745
17R E 484157 N 3190968
Located at the pedestrian bridge on FL 415 in town.
Waymark Code: WMXH31
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 01/12/2018
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member Marine Biologist
Views: 9

The monument near this panel honors young men who served in a conflict hardly known by modern Americans. Yet in 1917 and 1918, the U.S. joined in a war that touched many Florida families, including people in rural Osteen. From Volusia County, nearly 5,000 men registered for the World War I draft, 500 served in the armed forces, and at least 22 gave their lives.
Osteen's community marker, (likely dating from the 1920s) lists two boys who died in the war and seven who served and survived. Missing from the memorial are World War I veterans who later moved to the area; women (if there were military nurses, clerks, or secretaries from Osteen); and African Americans such as Private Hershell McClenan, an Osteen resident who died from the flu at his Florida training camp.
Actually, the First World War was as much a medical event as a combat story. One of the marker's soldiers died in France, but another succumbed to disease in South Carolina. Though the war was not universally popular, Americans showed up through enlistment or draft induction, and an isolated southern place found itself drawn into global affairs. Even so, Osteen's tale remained personal, as when a mother and her boy cried together after learning he had been drafted.

Illustrations:
1) Service card for William McKinley Pell, born in Osteen and inducted at DeLand. Like other boys named on the World War I marker, he came from a well-known area family, though his mother then lived in Miami. And like many trainees, he fell to flu-related pneumonia-in his case at South Carolina's Camp Jackson as the war was ending.

2) Charlie Leonardy's military grave in the early 1920s.

3) Memorial card for Osteen's Private Charles Cooper Leonardy (with an incorrect death date). Buried at Oise-Aisne American Cemetery in France, he was a draftee who died in August 1918 after six weeks overseas.
Marker Number: None

Date: None

County: Volusia

Marker Type: Roadside

Sponsored or placed by: Volusia County

Website: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
In your log, please say if you learned something new, and if you took any extra time to explore the area once you stopped at the historic marker waymark.

Please post a photo at the marker location.
Search for...
Geocaching.com Google Map
Google Maps
MapQuest
Bing Maps
Nearest Waymarks
Nearest Florida Historical Markers
Nearest Geocaches
Create a scavenger hunt using this waymark as the center point
Recent Visits/Logs:
Date Logged Log User Rating  
tmabrey visited Heroes of the World War 01/08/2022 tmabrey visited it
Janila visited Heroes of the World War 09/01/2018 Janila visited it
hart612 visited Heroes of the World War 01/16/2018 hart612 visited it
Markerman62 visited Heroes of the World War 03/04/2017 Markerman62 visited it

View all visits/logs