34 MAY 6, 2021 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
OUR NEIGHBORHOOD: THE WAY IT WAS
These monuments around Woodhaven are dedicated to fallen soldiers
PRESENTED BY THE WOODHAVEN
CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY
EDITORIAL@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@RIDGEWOODTIMES
Memorial Day, celebrated on
the last Monday in May every
year, honors to the men and
women who lost their lives while serving
in the military.
Due to the lingering eff ects of COVID-
19, there won’t be the usual public
observations this Memorial Day, but
there are several monuments around
Woodhaven dedicated to soldiers you
can visit.
American Legion Post 118 on 91st
Street and 89th Avenue is the site of
one of seven memorials in Woodhaven
to those who lost their lives defending
our country. In the front yard of Post
118 is a large granite monument with a
plaque containing the names of young
men who lost their lives in World
War I. This large monument once sat
in Forest Park, where Memorial Day
parades used to conclude, but it was
moved to the American Legion when
the new post building was built in the
early ‘40s.
And after a one-year hiatus due
to COVID, American Legion Post 118
intends on installing their Garden of
Remembrance this year, turning their
front yard into a miniature cemetery
covered in markers dedicated to those
no longer with us.
And that’s the point of Memorial
Day: to remember.
In 2018, the family of Air Force
Lieutenant Harry Schmitt returned
to Woodhaven, where a cross bearing
his name has been displayed every
Memorial Day since he was killed in a
plane crash 60 years earlier.
A second monument to the war dead
is on 84th Street and 91st Avenue in
Lieutenant Clinton L. Whiting Square,
also known as “The Rock.” Erected in
the late 1920s, it memorializes a local
lad who died in World War I. The local
VFW, which was just a few houses
away on 91st Avenue, was also named
aft er Lieutenant Whiting.
The third monument sits on Forest
Parkway and Jamaica Avenue and was
erected in the early 1950s to honor local
youth killed in World War II. For many
years, this was an important stop for
Memorial Day parades, and they even
used to perform 21-gun salutes at this
location. The GWDC and the American
Legion have held Memorial Day observances
at this monument for decades.
A fourth monument is the rediscovered
Memorial Trees of Woodhaven,
which run along Forest Park Drive
from Park Lane South past Oak Ridge
and toward the Forest Park Carousel.
These trees were planted for local
soldiers who lost their lives in World
War I.
Family members and residents used
to decorate the trees with wreaths and
patriotic ribbons on Memorial Day, a
tradition that faded away once the
granite monument was moved and
Memorial Day parades no longer ended
in the park. The Woodhaven Cultural
and Historical Society and American
Legion Post 118 Auxiliary revived the
act of decorating the trees back in 2015,
The Memorial Trees of Woodhaven, which run along Forest Park Drive in
Woodhaven. These trees were planted for local soldiers who lost their
lives in World War I. Courtesy of the Woodhaven Cultural and Historical Society
and it has remained a yearly tradition
since then. They will be decorated
again this year.
A fi ft h monument sits just to the east
of the trees along Forest Park Drive.
Private First Class Lawrence Strack
Memorial Pond was named aft er the
fi rst local youth killed in Vietnam. At
the time it was dedicated, the pond had
been converted to ballfi elds.
American Legion Post 118 adopted a
resolution asking the city to dedicate
the fi elds to the local young man who
played for Rich Haven Little League
and was only 18 years old when he was
killed in 1967. The ballfi elds didn’t last,
as they were always prone to fl ooding.
In 2004, the Parks Department fi nished
a project converting the fi elds back to a
pond and rededicated it to PFC Strack.
A sixth monument is a location we’re
all familiar with, but might not realize
it was dedicated to the war dead. Victory
Field was built and dedicated to
“the unknown soldier of World War I.”
And fi nally, a seventh monument
sits inside St. Thomas the Apostle
Church. Brass plaques with the names
of young men from the parish who
died in both world wars used to be
outside on the church wall, but when
one of the plaques was stolen the other
was moved inside. The missing plaque
was recreated through the eff orts of
Woodhaven resident and veteran Joe
Virgona and returned to the church
in 2009.
And there you have the seven Woodhaven
monuments to soldiers that
lost their lives serving their country.
COVID-19 may restrict our activities
this Memorial Day, but it will never be
able to restrict our ability to remember
and honor the sacrifi ces of others in
defense of our country.
* * *
If you have any remembrances or old
photographs of “Our Neighborhood: The
Way It Was” that you would like to share
with our readers, please write to the Old
Timer, c/o Ridgewood Times, 38-15 Bell
Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361, or send an email
to editorial@ridgewoodtimes.com. Any
print photographs mailed to us will be
carefully returned to you upon request.
A monument to the young men from Woodhaven killed in World War 1 in the front yard of American
Legion Post 118 on 91st Street and 89th Avenue. Each year, American Legion Post 118 erects the Garden of
Remembrance in honor of those no longer with us. Courtesy of the Woodhaven Cultural and Historical Society
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