WESTFIELD-On June 6, 100 years will have passed since an Austrian immigrant became the first man from Westfield killed in World War I.
June 6 will mark the 100th anniversary that Army Pvt. Stephen A. Budzak was the first man from Westfield killed in action in World War I.
Army Pvt. Stephen A. Budzak, who served with Company D, 23rd Infantry, 2nd Division, was 23 when he was killed in action in France on June 6, 1918 “in or near Bois de la Marette,” according to records shared by Bobby Callahan, Westfield’s director of veterans’ services.
A resident of Massachusetts for three years, very little is known about Budzak, according to city historian Dr. Robert Brown. Brown said in an interview that he found only two references to Budzak in city directories in 1914 and 1915.
“He is listed as a laborer in 1914 with the J. H. Fowler Co., and as an employee of the Westfield Sanitorium in 1915,” said Brown, noting Budzak’s address was listed as 70 East Silver St.
Another resource Brown used was a “little red book” in the Westfield Athenaeum’s reference department titled Westfield and the World War, compiled by the city’s “Welcome Home Committee” and distributed on Sept. 3, 1919. The book referenced Budzak being among “the men who have passed on,” as well as a comprehensive list of all service men who served. Highlights of the bound book also includes facts on how the Westfield community raised $4 million for Liberty Loans and various war activities – all within a two-year period.
“While the great conflict was in progress, Westfield residents displayed a commendable brand of loyalty and patriotism combined with self-sacrifice and a wholehearted spirit of liberality that, in retrospect, seems almost unbelievable,” noted the Welcome Home Committee.
A memorial stone remembers Army Pvt. Stephen A. Budzak who was the first man from Westfield killed in action during World War I.
“The 1919 celebration was conducted in conjunction with the city’s 250th celebration,” said Brown, noting the festivities included welcoming the troops home. The Westfield men who served during World War I each received a copy of the book.
According to the book’s foreword message, approximately 850 men “went out from Westfield ready to give their lives for the great principles involved in the conflict.”
Budzak enlisted at the Springfield recruiting station on June 4, 1917, then reported to Vermont’s Army installation, Fort Ethan Allen, which straddled the town line between Colchester and Essex. He landed overseas on Sept. 7, 1917, according to records by Callahan’s office.
Budzak’s obituary in the Westfield Evening Journal, dated July 25, 1918, noted his uncle Michael Michalek of 70 East Silver St. had received a telegram informing him of Budzak’s fate.
Budzak was born in 1895 in Zdavar, Austria, and was well known in Slovak circles in Westfield. He was a member of the St. Stephen Slovak Society of Westfield and the St. Peter Slovak Church. The obituary also noted he was employed “most of the time” by the Foster Machine Company. At the time of his enlistment, a wrist watch was presented to him by the Foster Machine employees.
Besides his aunt and uncle in Westfield, he left his parents, Andrez and Frontiska Budzak, three sisters and two brothers, all in Austria.
On a small island opposite Pine Hill Cemetery, at the corner of West Silver Street and Western Avenue, a memorial stone is flanked by a United States flag recognizing Budzak for the ultimate sacrifice he made for his adopted country. The park was dedicated on Veterans Day in 2008.
