CITY OF NEWBURGH – Newburgh Free Academy graduate Walter Allison’s journey did not end when he and dozens of other local soldiers were killed during a pivotal World War I battle in France.

Another Newburgh soldier’s request for extra clothing launched a 100-year trek for the wool school sweater that Allison, who graduated in 1916, brought along for his deployment.

Rescued from mothballs and restored, the sweater has been readied by the school district for a return to NFA’s main campus, where it hung for about 80 years before being removed and forgotten.

Allison’s name and image also now grace a specialty beer created by the Newburgh Brewing Co.

“I think it’s a good example of how a Newburgh graduate – someone who was very much part of Goldback Nation – went and fought for our country and brought a piece of Newburgh with him to a foreign land,” Newburgh Superintendent Roberto Padilla said.

“This is a phenomenal story that we want people to know.”

Allison was one of 40 local soldiers – most from Middletown and Newburgh – killed during a battle in which the Allies broke through a German fortification in France known as the Hindenburg Line.

The battle began Sept. 29, 1918, and lasted more than 50 hours.

Allison is buried at the Somme American Cemetery in Bony, France.

A center on NFA’s football team, the Goldbacks, Allison carried to war part of his sports uniform – a sweater emblazoned with a gold “N.”

After his death, the sweater was used as surplus clothing.

When another Newburgh soldier, Chester Greatsinger, requested extra clothing, he was given Allison’s sweater.

Greatsinger carried it home and gave it to the Newburgh Academy Athletic Association in 1919.

For 80 years, it was displayed at NFA before being moved to the district’s athletic department.

The sweater remained “fairly forgotten” until former Purple Heart Hall of Honor Executive Director Andrew Komonchak began looking for it about five years ago, Orange County Historian Johanna Yaun said.

“He was directed eventually to the athletic department, where it was dusty and wasn’t being cared for,” Yaun said. “It was moth-ridden.”

Yaun's office spent $1,940 having the sweater restored.

The Newburgh school district plans to have a display built in the lobby at NFA’s main campus, where the sweater will be displayed.

On Sept. 29, Yaun was part of a group of local people who traveled to France for the 100th anniversary of the battle.

Flags were placed at the gravesites for Allison and other local soldiers who were killed.

That same day, a ceremony for the 40 soldiers was held at the Orange County Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Goshen, and the Newburgh Brewing Co. unveiled a beer named in honor of Allison.

A portion of the beer sales will be set aside for two veterans organizations: Play for Your Freedom and Wings for Warriors.

“We love any time we can be involved in and pay homage to a piece of Newburgh history,” brewery President Paul Halayko said.

lsparks@th-record.com