28 DECEMBER 6, 2018 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
OUR NEIGHBORHOOD: THE WAY IT WAS
Celebrating Christmas after ‘The Great War’
PRESENTED
BY THE WOODHAVEN CULTURAL
AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY
PROJECTWOODHAVEN@GMAIL.COM
One hundred years ago, Christmas
was a bittersweet time
for many in Woodhaven and
around the world. On one hand, the
Great War (later known as World War
One) was now offi cially over. But on the
other hand, families were now dealing
with their losses.
Woodhaven suff ered the loss of 70
young men. In time, each one of these
young men may have turned out to
be teachers and doctors and lawyers
and policemen and community leaders.
Instead, they lost their lives in
service to this great nation and their
loss was a tremendous blow to our
community.
Each one of these men are remembered
to this very day by a tree planted
in a living, breathing memorial that
sits in Forest Park. For years, the
families of the dead soldiers would
decorate the trees for Memorial Day
but that tradition faded away over
time, though it was recently revived
by the Woodhaven Cultural & Historical
Society.
But this article is not about one of
those young men. Instead, it is about a
young man for whom a tree was never
planted.
As news of each new casualty came
in, the local papers would publish the
names of the dead under the simple
headline “Taps.” You can imagine that
residents of Woodhaven hated that
headline, and fearfully scanned the
names for young men they knew.
His name was Private Fred Fleury,
and in November 1918, his name was one
of the young men listed under “Taps.”
Private Fleury had enlisted and
sailed to France the year before, landing
on Memorial Day. Private Fleury
was born in Woodhaven, and had lived
here his entire life. He was an automobile
mechanic.
At fi rst, his parents had been notifi
ed that he was missing in action aft er
a brutal battle in France, and they
held out hope that he would fi nd his
way home safely. The family was still
grieving the loss of a cousin, George
Schneider of Woodhaven, who was
killed in France the month before.
But then the worst news possible
was confi rmed in a telegram from
the War Department. Private Fred
Fleury had been killed in action back
in September and the news was just
reaching the family now, in time for
Thanksgiving.
But Private Fred Fleury was never
memorialized by the planting of a tree
in Forest Park.
Another young soldier, Frank
Nauth of Woodhaven, was not only
a childhood friend of Private Fleury,
but they served together in the same
unit in France and were at each other’s
side when fragments of the same shell
struck them both.
Private Nauth survived with a nasty
leg wound, but he was informed that
his friend had been killed instantly. He
was sent to a hospital in Bath, England,
to recover where, to his surprise, while
up and about for a walk, he ran into
Private Fred Fleury of Woodhaven.
Both young men were thrilled; Fleury
himself had been told that Private
Nauth was killed.
Two weeks later, the Fleury family
received a letter telling them that their
young son was quite well. Enclosed
was his Red Cross Christmas tag, to be
attached to the Christmas Box families
could send abroad.
And just like that, mourning turned
to joy as the family scrambled to put
together a package, aft er having received
the greatest Christmas gift of
all – their son’s life back.
The following March of 1919, Private
Fred Fleury came home, along with
everyone else who survived the war,
and took part in a celebratory parade
through Woodhaven. And that May,
Private Fred Fleury and the rest
of Woodhaven bore witness to the
planting of the trees for the young
men whose families did not receive a
Christmas miracle.
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