The History of Henry P. Smith Post #24 CPL HENRY P. SMITH Henry P. Smith Post #24 was named after Henry P. Smith who served in the United States Army, Headquarters Company, 310th Infantry. He joined the Army in September 1917 and after seven months was killed in France during World War I. Henry was 29 years old when he died on July 8, 1918. Henry P. Smith held the rank of Corporal and was the first of 42 Romans killed in action out of 1,508 plus 18 nurses that served from Rome during this time. Henry is buried in St. Peter’s Cemetery located on East Dominick Street, Rome, NY. The membership honors Henry P. Smith every year on Memorial Day with a short ceremony at his gravesite. The "Rome Post" as it was original called started back in 1919. The first Commander G.F. Wheat with fifteen members set up headquarters located in the Queriolo building on North James Street. The Rome post grew to fifty members and on May 24, 1919 the commander sent a letter requesting a post number and charter. At this time they requested that the post be named after Henry P. Smith. The first organization meetings met in various places with in the Rome area such as the YMCA, the Armory and at the Common Council rooms in City Hall. During this time the post grew swiftly to approximately four hundred members. The goal was to enroll as many members as possible of all the men of this district who were drafted or enlisted in the war. In 1925 the membership purchased its first building on East Dominick Street from Dr. Harry Draper White. After 45 years the Rome Urban Renewal Agency bought the site for the reconstruction of Fort Stanwix National Monument which was the original location of Fort Stanwix. Then in 1971 the post purchased its current location at 325 Erie Blvd. West from Comstock family who operated a lumber outlet. For many years Henry P. Smith Post #24 was the largest post in Oneida County with an all time high 1,025 back in 1982. Today the current membership stands at around 800 members. Since our charter began we have been proud to have members that went on to various levels within the American Legion. Thomas Savage was elected to District Commanders in 1933. Five Post Commanders advanced to County Commanders, K. E. Williams, Lyle Howland, Chester Wakulik, Frank Smith and our newest Joseph Perrone. As of today there has been 64 Post Commanders.