Holiday to hail Warrensburg's hometown hero

WARRENSBURG | Aviator Floyd Bennett, raised on his uncle's farm in Warrensburg, made an attempt to achieve the first-ever flight to the North Pole in early May 1926, piloting U.S. Navy officer and explorer Richard E. Byrd on the Arctic flight. Returning from their expedition, Bennett and Byrd were treated as worldwide heroes, as governments and organizations bestowed them with awards and honors. Months after Bennett's untimely death, Warrensburg built a grand bandstand in the center of their hamlet to honor the pioneering aviator, and the "Floyd Bennett Memorial Bandstand" became an enduring symbol of the town's identity. Warrensburg historian Sandi Parisi, however, has said that over the 94 years since Bennett's death, fewer and fewer Warrensburg residents and visitors know who Floyd Bennett was, and she'd like to reverse that trend. With that aim, she has sought to establish a local annual holiday in Bennett's honor. Although Floyd Bennett was memorialized in various ways — New York City's first commercial airport was named "Floyd Bennett Field," a Navy Destroyer was christened in his name, and New York City dedicated a public school in his memory — his hometown should also give him recognition. "We have our Floyd Bennett park and bandstand, but many people have no idea why it's named Floyd Bennett — and hopefully we will let them know," she said. With the town board's approval at their recent April board meeting, Parisi announced that the Floyd Bennett Day would be annually observed on May 9, the day that Bennett and Byrd were said to have reached the North Pole. Her suggestion was endorsed unanimously by the town board. While in upcoming years, the day might be celebrated with various public activities, gatherings and perhaps a local museum exhibit, this year the date will pass virtually unnoticed, as there was not enough time to organize a celebration, she said. Bennett found work in Ticonderoga, Hague Floyd Bennett was born on Oct. 25, 1890 — most accounts say it was in Warrensburg, while a few say his birth occurred in Glens Falls, perhaps in the city's hospital. He grew up in Warrensburg, but left the local school at the age of 17 to live in Ticonderoga, for employment as the chauffeur for local builder William Gale — simultaneously working as an auto mechanic at Richard Bolton's Trout House Garage in Hague. Bennett later moved to Plattsburgh and managed Harold Huestis' garage, as well as operating a taxi service and renting cars. A few years after the U.S. became involved in World War One, Bennett enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1917, served as an aviation mechanic during the remainder of the war, then became certified as a Navy Pilot in 1920. In 1925, Bennett and Richard Byrd conducted an aerial survey of Greenland, and the two became close friends — Bennett became Byrd's personal pilot, and they embarked on their 1926 Arctic flight. Floyd Bennett hailed internationally In the weeks following their famous feat, Bennett received worldwide recognition. Bennett's and Byrd's first stop after the May 1926 Arctic flight — death-defying in that era — was in London, where the two were welcomed as heroes. Soon after, they were honored with a ticker-tape parade in New York City. Later, Bennett and Byrd were each presented with the U.S. Medal of Honor — rare for peacetime achievements — and Bennett then flew his plane on a goodwill tour of the U.S. Not long afterward, Bennett and Byrd sought to make the first transatlantic flight from New York to Paris, but they were hurt in a training-flight crash — and Charles Lindbergh ended up accomplishing the feat, duplicated by Bennett and Byrd six weeks later. Subsequently, Bennett and Byrd started conducting test flights for an aerial expedition to the South Pole. In March 1928, they flew over a crowd of people gathered on the shore of Lake Champlain near Ticonderoga, where the youthful Bennett had worked as an automobile mechanic. Bennett 'sacrificed his life' on rescue mission Weeks later, Bennett heard that three European aviators had crashed north of Newfoundland Canada, and urgently needed to be rescued. Bennett, suffering a high fever, piloted a plane to pick up these pilots who had just completed the first successful east-west transatlantic flight. But overcome by illness as the rescue mission was completed successfully, Bennett was hospitalized in Quebec, where doctors determined he was gravely ill with pneumonia. Bennett died on April 25, 1928 at the age of 38. Internationally, Bennett was hailed as a hero who had sacrificed his life in an effort to save others, Lawrence P. Gooley wrote in a July 2010 Adirondack Almanack article. "Explorers, adventurers, and aviators praised Bennett as a man of grace, intelligence, bravery, and unfailing integrity," Gooley noted, adding that following his well-attended military funeral, Bennett was mourned by the nation and that President Calvin Coolidge and his wife Grace laid a wreath on his grave at Arlington National Cemetery. Gooley also wrote that Richard Byrd subsequently made a historic flight to the South Pole, and he renamed the expedition's airplane in Bennett's honor. The trimotor Ford aircraft "Floyd Bennett" is now at the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation. A detailed and documented account of Bennett and Byrd's flight to the North Pole by historian Kenneth P. Czech can be found online, as well as Gooley's account of Bennett's life published in the Adirondack Almanack.

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Holiday to hail Warrensburg's hometown hero

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