Explore the history of Veteran’s Day
Bronx vet to get updates to memorial
Riverdale resident wants improvements for Van Cortlandt Park Memorial Grove
BY JASON COHEN
Within the third largest
park in New York City, lies a
small fenced in area that many
people pass by without noticing.
This is the Van Cortlandt
Park Memorial Grove.
In 2006, Riverdale resident
and Korean War veteran Herb
Barret was riding his bike in
the park when he stumbled
upon the site. He found about
16 monuments and observed
the area was quite fi lthy.
“When I fi rst saw the memorial,
I didn’t realize it was a memorial,”
he recalled.
This Sunday, Nov. 8, will
mark the 14th anniversary of
Barret holding a Veteran’s Day
ceremony there.
The Parks Department in
partnership with the Peter G.
Lehman No. 8646 VFW Post
created the memorial in 1949
with 39 plaques commemorating
soldiers from the Bronx
who served in World War II and
the Korean War. However, due
to vandalism and poor maintenance,
it fell into disarray.
Barret, 89, and his friend
Don Tannen, a deceased WWII
Navy fl ight line controller, began
to investigate how they
could fi x up the memorial.
“I got the Parks Department
involved because this place
was trash,” he said.
He recalled that originally,
most local elected offi cials did
not even know about the Grove.
The ball got rolling when former
Councilman Oliver Koppell
allocated $250,000 to the
Parks Department to clean up
the site.
Barret, a former airplane
engine mechanic, who did a
tour with the Marines, has
lived in Riverdale since 1957.
He is a member of the Jewish
War Veterans of the USA
and an active volunteer at the
James J. Peters Department of
Veterans Affairs Medical Center
in Kingsbridge. While Barret
has not gone there lately
because of the pandemic, he
typically visits once a week.
With the Veteran’s Day ceremony
a few days away, Barret
is proud of how far the Grove
has come since he fi rst found
it, but feels more should be
done.
BRONX TIMES REPORTER,30 NOVVEMBER 6-12, 2020 BTR
“I would like to see this memorial
get recognized as a federal
memorial like other memorials
in Riverdale,” he said.
One such memorial is the
Riverdale-Spuyten Duyvil-
Kingsbridge Memorial Bell
Tower, which was was listed
on the National Register of
Historic Places on Jan. 3, 2012
While he appreciates that
about 100 people come to the
ceremony each year, Barret
stressed that Parks must
maintain it on a regular basis,
plant more shrubbery and put
more signage around. He felt
that the average person walks
by and sees fl ags, but has no
idea what it is.
Barret did commend students
from Manhattan College
for recently raking out the memorial.
“What I’m trying to do now
is get this area improved,”
Barret said.
Riverdale resident and Korean War veteran Herb Barret who is hosting
the 14th annual Veteran’s Day ceremony at Van Cortlandt Park Memorial
Grove on Nov. 8 and trying to bring awareness to the site.
Photo by Jason Cohen
BY BRONX TIMES
Service members make numerous
sacrifi ces in defense
of their countries. While the
debts to service members may
never be the kind that can be
repaid in full, paying tribute
to veterans, on Veteran’s Day
and throughout the year, can
be a great way to show them
just how much their efforts
are appreciated.
Veteran’s Day begins
with Armistice Day
Veteran’s Day is a byproduct
of the end of World War I,
when Germany and the Allied
Nations signed the Treaty
of Versailles, formally ceasing
fi ghting and establishing
terms of peace. On Nov. 11,
1919, the fi rst anniversary of
the signing of the treaty, the
fi rst Armistice Day events
were held. Armistice Day was
initially a legal holiday to
honor the end of World War I
only, states History.com. The
United States Congress passed
a resolution in 1926 for an annual
observance, and Nov.
11 became a national holiday
starting in 1938. However, in
1954, after the country had
been embroiled in both World
War II and the Korean War,
Congress amended the Act
of 1938 by renaming the commemoration
“Veteran’s Day”
to honor veterans of all wars.
Veteran’s Day in October?
According to Military.com,
for a short time, thanks to the
Uniform Holiday Bill, which
in 1968 established three-day
weekends for federal employees
by celebrating national
holidays on Mondays, Veteran’s
Day was moved to the
fourth Monday of October —
the fi rst being Oct. 25, 1971.
However, many people did not
agree with this decision, continuing
to honor the holiday
on the original date. In 1975,
President Gerald Ford signed
a new law that returned Veteran’s
Day to Nov. 11 beginning
in 1978. Since then, parades,
memorial events, volunteer efforts,
and other celebrations
revolving around veterans
have been held on Nov. 11.
Veterans around the world
Many countries, including
the United States, celebrate
veterans on or near Nov. 11.
America’s closest neighbor
to the north, Canada, commemorates
veterans on Remembrance
Day (also Nov.
11), as does the United Kingdom.
Britain also has Remembrance
Sunday, which is the
second Sunday of November.
Remembrance Day also is
called Poppy Day, when people
of the Commonwealth member
states wear a red poppy
fl ower in honor of military
members who have died in the
line of duty.
Paying tribute
There are various ways to
honor veterans on Veteran’s
Day and Remembrance Day.
Federal government closings,
educational efforts in
schools, parades, and visits
to military hospitals or cemeteries
may take place. In Europe,
it is common to observe
two minutes of silence at 11
a.m. every Nov. 11. Veteran’s
Day and its sister holidays
mark the honoring of veterans
of all wars, with a particular
focus on living veterans.
It is a day to celebrate the
dedication and selfl essness of
hardworking military men
and women.
Paying tribute to veterans, on Veteran’s Day and throughout the year, can be a great way to show them just how
much their efforts are appreciated.
/History.com
/Military.com