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Dec. 27, 2019-Jan. 2, 2020
‘It’s representative of who Queens is’
Borough unveils
its new unifi ed
Vietnam Memorial
BY MAX PARROTT
The opening of first borough
wide Vietnam memorial
in Queens was a bittersweet
moment for both Vietnam Veterans
of America (VVA) and
for outgoing Borough President
Melinda Katz.
Katz and NYC Parks held a
ceremony for the memorial in
Elmhurst Park on the morning
of Friday, Dec. 20. For the
veterans group, ceremony culminated
the vision of former
Chapter 32 President Pat Toro
who started the push for the
monument before passing away
from cancer related to Agent
Orange exposure in 2014.
For Katz, the project spanned
her entire 10-year presidency,
from the very beginning to her
last ribbon cutting in that role.
Built on the northwest corner
of Elmhurst Park, the project
is the first unified Vietnam
memorial to honor all of the 371
Queens service members who
died during the Vietnam War
or those classified as “missing
in action.”
“It’s representative of who
Queens is. You’ve got every
ethnic group you can think of
on that wall. Probably most
Queens residents find the names of fallen soldiers on the new Elmhurst Park Vietnam veterans memorial. Photo: Max Parrott/QNS
religions. Many of them are
not citizens. They died serving
a country they weren’t event a
citizen of,” said John Rowan,
national president of the VVA.
But the memorial is not just
those who died overseas.
“It is dedicated to all the
people who came home from
the war who are still dying today
from afflictions they got
during the war,” added Katz.
The monument is formed of
two two curved concrete slats
engraved with bamboo on one
side and the names of these soldiers
on the west-facing side to
catch the reflection of the sun
as it rises.
“If there is a sun in the sky
the names of those men will
gleam brightly,” said Katz.
During their remarks,
Councilman Robert Holden
and Juniper Park Civic Association
Tony Nunziato recalled
the process of procuring the
land, which had formerly been
the site of 275-feet-wide gas
tanks visible from the nearby
highway.
Former VVA Chapter 32
President Michael O’Kane said
that when the city removed the
tanks and sold the land for $1,
it was the work of local leaders
that brought the memorial idea
to fruition.
“Thanks to Bob Holden
and Juniper civic, the site was
saved from being a Home Depot.
I think we’d be standing in
the kitchen remodeling section
right here,” said O’Kane.
The memorial’s design and
construction was fully funded
by Katz, who allocated $2.3 million
in capital funding over the
past two years, in addition to
the $550,000 she first offered
in 2008 for her first project as
Borough President.
Vol. 7 No. 52 48 total pages
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