Stories of Community Groups - Polish Falcon Nest No. 4 - South Bend Indiana

Founded in 1894, Nest 4 of the Polish Falcons of America in South Bend, is an outstanding example of a community's recruitment response during the Great War. 

 This is how Jozef Sierocinski, a Polish American writer, recalled the recruitment days to the U.S. Army: "According to statistics in the first three months alone more than 38,000 Polish Americans joined the American Army. This was the flower of the Polish Falcons and of seriously minded Polish youth. In certain cities the percentage of Polish volunteers was just incredible. For instance, in South Bend, Indiana, out of 100 volunteers who enlisted in the American army, 94 were Polish American. For this, the president of the local civic committee, Mr. Ignacy Werwinski, received personal thanks from the President of the United States, Woodrow Wilson".

*J. Sierocinski, The Polish Army in France, Warsaw, 1929, p. 81.

Returning Veterans of the US Armed Forced to South Bend, Indiana, accompanied by the Nest 4 Falcon Marching Band, c. 1921.