WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES MARCH 14, 2019 27
OUR NEIGHBORHOOD: THE WAY IT WAS
Woodhaven pond honors life of Vietnam vet
PRESENTED BY THE WOODHAVEN
CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY
PROJECTWOODHAVEN@GMAIL.COM
Last weekend, Lynch Memorial
Triangle had its name restored
70 years after it was first
named in honor of Father Lawrence
Lynch, who was killed at the Battle
of Okinawa.
Although press clippings at the
time identified Father Lynch as a
“Woodhavenite” and the memorial
bearing his name is in Ozone
Park, Father Lynch grew up and
lived at 415 Elderts Ln., which is in
Cypress Hills.
You would think that most
memorials would be in the hometown
of the person they are named after,
but that’s not always the case.
Strack Pond in the Woodhaven
section of Forest Park (across from
the Bandshell and the Carousel)
is named after Laurence Strack,
who lived on Nichols Avenue in
Cypress Hills.
As a young boy, Laurence Strack
had played baseball for a lot of
local little leagues including the
Cypress Hills Bombers, the Little
Fellers League and Rich-Haven
Little League.
When the city converted a pond
into a pair of ballfields, American
Legion Post 118 in Woodhaven
petitioned to get one of them named
after Strack. Although Strack never
played on those ballfields, he did
used to ice skate on the pond that
was there.
“Laurence Strack lived in the
tradition of American Youth and was
an avid sports fan and participant,”
the resolution read. “In the true
tradition of an American, Laurence
made the supreme sacrifice that
any American can make for his
Community and Country when he
gave up his life in Vietnam.”
Much was made of the fact
that Laurence Strack played on
local ballfields as a boy. But it
was also noted that Private First
Class Laurence Strack was not far
removed from being a boy himself
when he was killed in March
1967 during a combat parachute
drop in Vietnam.
Laurence Strack was only
18 years old.
Just before the second anniversary
of his death, legislation passed
through the City Council and the new
field was dedicated as PFC Laurence
George E. Strack Memorial Field.
However, the fields themselves
were short-lived. The fields (known
locally as “Twin Fields”) were built
on a natural pond at the bottom of
a deep depression left behind my
glaciers. As a result, when it rained,
those fields tended to flood.
Even a small rain could cause
the field to get muddy and after a
heavy rainstorm, it could take days
to recover.
During the late 1970s, the fields
were badly damaged by vandals.
Over the winter, some drove their
automobiles over the field, through
the mud. By the time teams showed
up for their first practice a few
months later, all of the deep grooves
in the mud were rock solid.
Assemblyman Frederick D.
Schmidt came up with a solution,
arranging to have a firetruck at the
top of the hill connect to a hydrant
and soak the field.
Once it was muddy again, the
coaches and managers did their best
to rake it smooth.
It was playable, but no one who
ever played on that field trusted a
ground ball.
The ballfields were eventually
converted back to a natural pond
in a project that took two years
to complete. When PFC Laurence
Strack Memorial Pond was opened
to the public in May 2004, his family
attended the dedication.
Since then, Strack Pond has
become one of the more beautiful
and most photographed locations in
Woodhaven. It is very popular with
hikers and bird watchers.
For two young men from Cypress
Hills, one a Lawrence and the
other Laurence, their sacrifices
have been memorialized forever
in neighboring towns. They may
not have technically lived in the
towns they are remembered in, but
the important thing is that they
are remembered.
PFC Laurence Strack Photos courtesy of Woodhaven Cultural and Historical Society
Strack Pond in Forest Park
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