Such a cool story! 

A remarkable piece of Charlestown history is finally getting the recognition it deserves.

According to the Boston Globe, William P. Nearen, an 18-year-old Charlestown resident who was killed while serving in the British Army during World War I, was recently honored with a square at the corner of Nearen Row and Tremont Street. The dedication, held over Memorial Day weekend, was made possible thanks to years of research by Nearen’s great-grandnephew, Kevin Boyce, who uncovered the remarkable story of his ancestor.

So how did a young man from Charlestown end up fighting for Britain? In 1915, two years before the United States entered World War I, Nearen crossed the Atlantic and enlisted in the British Army under the false name James Joseph Powers. He used another Charlestown boy’s birth certificate and claimed to be from Newfoundland, then part of the British Empire, to join the King’s Liverpool Regiment. Nearen was killed in France during the Battle of the Somme in August 1916. He was just 18 years old.

More than a century after his death, Nearen is finally being remembered by name, serving as a reminder that Charlestown’s history is filled with remarkable stories waiting to be discovered.

You can read the full story here.