Veterans Day Program at Congressional Medal of Honor Park

A Veterans Day Program will be held on November 11 at 11:00 am in Congressional Medal of Honor Park at the corner of Park and Howard and Dolphin. Social distancing will be observed. The program will include a reading by Mayor Jack Young, participation by neighborhood clergy, and a reading of the poem “In Flanders Fields.”

On August 17, 1939 a monument, placed in the area at the corner of Preston and Howard Street, adjacent to the Fifth Regiment Armory, was dedicated to two Baltimore heroes who had been honored after World War I with the Congressional Medal of Honor. The Memorial Craftsmen of American commissioned the Monument and organized the event attended by 1,000 people including Governor Herbert O’Conor and State officers of the American Legion.

Private Henry G. Costin was born June 15, 1898 in Baltimore and graduated from the Baltimore City College in 1914. After enlisting in the Army in 1917, he fought in France. On October 18, 1918 near Bois-de-Consenvoye, Henry was killed while performing an act of extreme heroism, for which he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Ensign Charles Hammann was born March 16, 1892 in Baltimore and attended Baltimore Polytechnic Institute. He joined the Naval Reserve in October 1917. He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor when, as a pilot off the Austro-Hungarian coast, he dived down next to a downed pilot and brought him to safety even though his not designed for a double load.

The Monument was moved to its present location at Park Avenue, Howard Street and Dolphin Street during Urban Renewal.