Community Corner

War Dead Relatives Support Memorial Proposal

Relatives of Garden City veterans who made the ultimate sacrifice during war time support a proposal to upgrade the village's Veterans Memorial on Seventh Street.

The relatives of Garden City veterans who made the ultimate sacrifice during wartime have written letters to Mayor Robert Rothschild and the board of trustees in support of a proposal to upgrade the village's Veterans Memorial on Seventh Street.

Fourth Street resident Cyril Smith, a Vietnam veteran himself, has requested that the village upgrade, consolidate and relocate the memorial. 

His proposal entails cleaning and reinforcing the current World War II plaque, adding a plaque for Iraq/Afghanistan, adding war dead names to the current Korean War and Vietnam War plaques and duplicating the World War I plaque currently located on Garden City Middle School's front lawn. 

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He also hopes to move the four granite markers of the St. Paul's School war dead, which presently surround the school's front flagpole, to the Seventh Street memorial, and incorporate the two Doubleday bronze plaques to their Garden City employees who served and those that died in WW I and WW II service.

Smith proposes moving the Seventh Street memorial area approximately 300 feet west to where the gazebo is currently located.

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These monuments, two of which are new, would form a "gradual/gentle" semi-circle, circumventing the rear area around the gazebo.

Lifelong Garden City resident, 1st Lt. Timothy J. Shorten, USMC, was killed in action in Vietnam March 31, 1968. A posthumous winner of the Silver and Bronze Stars, as well as a Purple Heart, Mr. Shorten graduated St. Anne's School and Chaminade High School, where he played football, before attending Holy Cross College. He later became a social studies teacher at St. Agnes Cathedral High School in Rockville Centre.

His widow, Darlene (Shorten) Schnure of Woodcliff Lake, NJ, believes any memorial should have the names of the war dead listed.

"At the very least, I believe that any new memorial should have the actual names of the dead listed. As a former elected official in my town, and former town clerk, I have had many dealings with our local VFW Post and know that the towns here in Bergen County [New Jersey] normally do list the individual names on their memorials," Schnure wrote in her letter to board. "I feel that many of them did not really receive the honor  bestowed on  those killed in previous wars due to the conflicted feelings which the Vietnam War raised in our citizens."

Robert V. Campbell of Islip, also wrote a letter of support on behalf of his cousin, Robert M. Finnegan, who gave his life at the age of 20 while defending Tan Son Nhut Airbase (Saigon) from a massive attack during the Tet Offensive of January 1968.

"When his country called, my cousin left his home and family in Garden City to proudly serve his country and hometown. His service and his ultimate sacrifice should be forever memorialized as an example of true patriotism and selflessness to present and future residents of Garden City and this nation," Campbell wrote. 

His letter continued, in part: "As you are aware, the sacrifices of the soldiers in Vietnam have often been overlooked by this nation. I am personally requesting that you, as mayor of Garden City, lead the efforts to properly honor the sacrifices of past, present and future soldiers who made and will make the ultimate sacrifice for their country and hometown. His country and his hometown held great meaning to Bobby Finnegan; your efforts would express how much he meant to the residents of Garden City." 

Greg and Carol LiCalzi, whose son, 1st Lt. Michael L. LiCalzi, USMC, died in Iraq on May 11, 2006, want the village to remember one of its children.

"The intent of this letter is to express the complete and unqualified support of our family for the proposed changes to the village's Veterans Memorial," their letter reads. "We would very much like the village to honor and remember one of its children with a new plaque for servicemen who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan."

Raised in Garden City, Lt. LiCalzi attended kindergarten through 8th grade in Garden City Public Schools. While in elementary and middle school he served as an altar boy at Saint Joseph's Church and played sports on the CYO, Little League and Garden City Middle School teams. He later attended Chaminade High School.

Marianne Sheridan, who was born and raised in Garden City, lost her brother, Philip F. Sheridan, on Easter Sunday in 1968. He was 19 years old when he was killed on Hill 881 near Khe Sanh, Vietnam. Sheridan said her brother was on a volunteer mission for an exhausted forward observer who had been fighting all day. 

"While all this might be a distant memory to some, to others it might as well be yesterday. I was 13 years old and a student at Garden City Junior High that spring. I have spent a lifetime trying to accept the loss of such a wonderful young man, and it wasn't made any easier by the tone of the times and the lack of respect that Vietnam veterans were given at that time," Sheridan said. "I believe it would be a great thing to record Phil's sacrifice, as well as the sacrifices of all the other men and women of Garden City who lost their lives in the service of our country, in the form of a monument that will stand where they can't."

Sheridan, a student of history who recently completed a course which approached American history by examining local monuments, documents and artifacts, added, "It is through these things that one can understand the people who once lived and breathed in that town, and understand what mattered to them too. This monument could show all who follow that those who answered the call to duty do matter, and will always be worth remembering."

These families all agree a "virtual wall" should supplement the physical memorial.

Greg and Carol, who created a website in their son's honor, www.aceintheholefoundation.org, wrote, "When Michael died we were very touched and comforted by the outpouring of support from our GC friends and Poplar Street neighbors, the GC Police and Fire Departments, Saint Joseph's Parish, the American Legion and the local media, among others. In that regard, we also support the request that a virtual wall technology be approved to supplement the physical memorial."

Many of Michael's old friends from elementary and high school still live in Garden City. The website allows family, friends and fellow Marines to remember Lt. LiCalzi.

"It is quite effective and especially helpful to us, given our new home in Florida," Greg and Carol wrote. 

For Schnure, a former 17-year village resident, a virtual wall can be a way for those growing up in town and attending Garden City schools, who were not yet born during those conflicts, to learn about the dead as people and realize that they once walked the Garden City streets and played on the school fields  just as students do now. 

"Any actions you choose to take do not benefit me personally. I no longer have reason to walk along Seventh Street and need no memorial to help me remember Tim. Those memories have been seared into my heart. However, Garden City should have a proper memorial area to remind those who grow up there now of the sacrifices made by its former residents," Schnure wrote.

Campbell agreed, adding, "A 'virtual wall' would allow me and others, including surviving family members, to commemorate and share our  appreciation of his service and sacrifice."

In her letter to the board, Sheridan asked trustees to seriously consider the wall's creation. 

"The technology allows photographs and commemorations such as poems and even letters from war received by families," Sheridan said. "In these ways, this medium can better personalize the loss that my family and other Garden City families have suffered."

John Donovan, commander of Garden City's American Legion Post, has expressed enthusiasm for the project, noting that members of the American Legion have been very involved in the proposal from the beginning.

Herb Blauert, an artillery sergeant in General Patton's Third Army in World War II, past Nassau County commander of the American Legion and designer of the Veterans Memorial at Eisenhower Park, took personal interest in the project and took the initial concept from residents Sue Alvey and Cyril Smith and transformed it into a sketch of what is now the proposed design, Donovan said.

"What started as a grouping of stones and bronze plaques surrounding the existing gazebo was transformed into a contemplative setting that we have initially dubbed 'The Walk of Heroes'," Donovan said.

Smith's proposal is under consideration. On Saturday, Feb. 6, Smith will tour the site with the mayor and trustees in order to get a better understanding of the project's scope.

"We definitely want to do something because it's time to do something but I don't think we want it to look like Washington, D.C.," Mayor Rothschild said at a recent board meeting. "Maybe that's not the right way to put it but we want it to be special for Garden City and we want it to recognize the people who have done what they've done for the country and for this village. I really think the trustees need to touch it and feel it."


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