Symbols
of Service:
Queens Honors Vets Through Memorials
By MICHAEL CUSENZA
My grandfather once told me about war. He was a lieutenant in the
Army during World War II. He talked about the 7th Armored Division,
about the Battle of the Bulge, about St. Vith and the brutal Belgian
winter. He didn’t say much about his Purple Heart.
A
Korean War Memorial in Kissena Park was dedicated this year.
Tributes to Queens soldiers appear throughout
the borough, including this one in Queens Boulevard. |
He
spoke of sacrifice, of friendships, terrible losses and forever moving
forward. Because that’s what soldiers do.
On the home front, the duty of civilians has always been to support,
reflect on and pay tribute to the brave men and women who for centuries
have defended – many at the cost of their own lives –
our way of life.
One of the more enduring ways in which civilians and veterans in Queens,
and throughout the five boroughs, honor those that have served is
through war memorials.
A Wealth Of Tributes
According to the City Dept. of Parks and Recreation, there are more
than 50 monuments across Queens dedicated to veterans in general or
specifically recognizing those who fought in conflicts ranging from
the Civil War to the Korean War.
“Monuments are created to remind us of the people and events
that should never be forgotten. Parks are often places for quiet reflection
and over the last two centuries they have served as locations for
war memorials,” Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe said. “The
monuments act as daily reminders of the sacrifices our citizens have
made to preserve our freedom and fight tyranny around the world. The
more than 50 war memorials in Queens parks honor individuals, our
armed forces collectively, important moments in history, and the important
roles that Queens residents have played over history.”
These tributes, etched in stone, shaped out of steel or adorned with
flowers, stress the significance of consistent remembrance. Queens
Borough President Helen Marshall talked about the memorials as daily
reminders of “those soldiers who answered a call to duty and
made the ultimate sacrifice – giving up their own life for another.”
“It also reminds us of those who were injured,” Marshall
continued, “those who suffered separation from their families
and old friends and all those who suffered the hardships from severe
and unfamiliar climates from the frozen battlefields of Korea to the
heat of Desert Storm. From the Colonial War for freedom to the dawn
of this 21st Century, we owe our veterans a debt that we can never
repay.”
Vietnam
Honor
Easily one of the most anticipated tributes yet to be erected is the
Queens Vietnam Veterans War Memorial set for the new park on the old
KeySpan gas tanks site in Elmhurst.
Vietnam Veterans of America Queens Chapter President Pat Toro, Jr.
promised it will be a “very fitting memorial” dedicated
to the unique role the Vietnam veteran has played on the American
historical landscape.
“The Vietnam War brings a lot of history to it, a lot of negativism
to it – the unpopularity of the war, the way the soldiers were
treated when we came back,” said Toro, a Marine who served one
tour, or 13 months, in Vietnam. “We weren’t given parades,
we were spit at, we were called ‘baby killers,’ we were
insulted in public and all that. So this is a way to honor those [veterans].”
Toro explained this to the Parks Dept. when he met with the agency
to discuss plans for the memorial that will also honor the approximately
450 military personnel from Queens that never made it home from Southeast
Asia.
“You cannot look at the Vietnam War and a memorial for the Vietnam
War in the same [way] as you look at a World War II memorial, or World
War I, or Korea, or whatever,” he said. “They say the
Korean War is the Forgotten War. The Vietnam veteran can be called
the Forgotten Veteran.”
Never
Forget Them
These memorials were designed and erected ostensibly so that no veteran
would ever be forgotten. Considering the times in which we find ourselves,
it would seem quite difficult to overlook their continued sacrifice.
Even as we are inundated daily with distractions, we are still constantly
reminded of the War on Terror and those on its front lines.
Now, more than ever, these memorials are treasured as symbols of history
and valor, instead of overlooked as simple tree markers, park namesakes
or geographical landmarks.
This becomes evident after speaking to the men and women that lived
it; by listening intently to my grandfather or Pat Toro, Jr. as they
recounted all they had to endure on the battlefields from Holland
to Hanoi and in the staggering aftermath at home.
There are many war memorials in Queens, with even more on the way.
They represent sacrifice, friendships, terrible losses and the resolve
to forever move forward.
And the promise that we will never forget.
A Selection Of Queens’ Memorials
Baisley
Pond Park Memorial
Near gate house, Baisley Boulevard and 155th Street
Bayside
Civil War Boulder
216th Street and 48th Avenue
Belle
Harbor Memorial Circle
Rockaway Beach Boulevard between Beach 120th and Beach 121st Streets
Broad
Channel Memorial Park Plaque
Cross Bay Boulevard between 4th and 6th Roads
Captain
George H. Tilly Monument
Highland Avenue and 165th Street
Catholic
War Veterans Square
Rockaway Boulevard, 122nd Street, 112th Avenue
College
Point War Memorial
Mall on 18th Avenue between 126th And 127th Streets
Corporal
George J. Wellbrook Memorial
Rockaway Boulevard, 106th Street, 109th Avenue
Corporal
William Leonard Square
155th Street between Northern Boulevard and Roosevelt Avenue
Dawn
of Glory
Jamaica Avenue at Cleveland Street
Flanders
Field Flagstaff
42nd Avenue, 103rd Street, 41st Avenue, 104th Street
Flushing
Memorial
Northern Boulevard and Leavitt Street
Flushing
World War Memorial
149th Street and Bayside Avenue
Glendale
War Memorial
Myrtle and Cooper Avenues
General
George Washington Tablet
Horace Harding Boulevard and 233rd Street
Hollis
World War Memorial
193rd Street and Hillside Avenue
John
Vincent Daniels, Jr. Plaque
Roosevelt Avenue, 51st Street, 43rd Avenue
Kissena
Park World War I Monument
Southwest end of lake on knoll
Korean War Memorial
Kissena Park, Near Rose Avenue and Parsons Boulevard entrance
Lost
Battalion Hall Plaque
Queens Boulevard between 62nd Avenue and 62nd Road; front of lobby
in rec center
Maspeth
Memorial
Grand Avenue at 57th Avenue and 72nd Street
Middle
Village War Memorial
77th Street, 66th Road, Gray Street
Morris
Park World War Memorial
Atlantic Avenue and Lefferts Boulevard
Richmond
Hill War Memorial
Forest Park, Myrtle Avenue and Park Lane South
Ridgewood
Memorial
Myrtle Avenue and Cornelia Street
Rockaway
Veterans Memorial
Rockaway Beach Boulevard at Beach 94th Street
Sergeant
Joseph E. Schaefer Memorial
Forest Park, Myrtle Avenue and Park Lane South
Sgt. Edward R. Miller Tablet
Cooper Avenue and 73rd Place
Soldiers
and Sailors Monument
173rd Street and Hillside Avenue
Soldiers
Monument
Calvary Cemetery Veterans Park
Laurel Hill Boulevard
Sunnyside
Memorial
Queens Boulevard, 48th to 49th Streets
Veterans
Square Memorial
122nd Avenue, Montauk Street, Springfield Boulevard, Farmers Boulevard
Wilbur
E. Colyer Square
Rockaway Boulevard, 120th Avenue and 133rd Street
William
F. Moore Memorial
108th Street, Corona Avenue and 51st Avenue
Woodside
Doughboy
Woodside and Roosevelt Avenues, 39th Road and 52nd Street
Woodside
Memorial Park
Roosevelt Avenue and 60th Street
For a complete list to go nycgovparks.org.