New York City honors its Vietnam heroes and veterans with a downtown monument and plaza.
Vietnam Veterans Memorial Plaza, between Water and South streets (just north of Broad Street), was dedicated in 1985 and renovated in 2001.
A 66-foot-long glass wall at the heart of the plaza honors New York’s Vietnam veterans. Glass blocks, illuminated at night, are inscribed with more than 80 excerpts from letters written by soldiers during the war, as well as news accounts and quotes from political leaders during the Vietnam era.
The wall also has a granite shelf upon which visitors have left personal mementoes.
The memorial, built on the site of the former Jeannette Park (named after a ship that sank during a 1879 Arctic exploration) was designed by architects Peter Wormser and William Fellows, and writer and Vietnam veteran Joseph Ferrandino.
During the 2001 restoration, a long Walk of Honor was built featuring a dozen granite plinths with plaques listing 1,741 New Yorkers who had died in the war.
A fountain was also added during the restoration, along with markers (such as a large map of Vietnam) that provide information about the conflict and the men and women who served in it.
Danbury honors veterans of several wars with a 1931 Memorial on the West Street green.
The Soldiers and Sailors Memorial, near the intersection of West and Division streets, is dedicated to soldiers and sailors who served in the American Revolution, the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, and World War I.
The monument features a bronze group of four soldiers and a sailor standing atop a round granite pillar. A dedication at the monument’s base reads, “Dedicated to the soldiers and sailors of Danbury,” along with years in which the various conflicts started (1776, 1861, 1898, and 1917).
The American Revolution and World War I figures are standing, the Civil War figure and sailor are in kneeling positions, and the Spanish-American war figure is crouched with a rifle at the ready. All of the figures have a variety of personal equipment.
The figures were created by sculptor Donald E. Curran, a Darien resident who won a design competition.
To the east of the Memorial, a granite boulder bears a plaque, dedicated in 1952, that honors Danbury’s World War II veterans.
At the eastern end of the green, a memorial honors president James A. Garfield, a Civil War veteran. The monument was erected in a park on West Wooster Street in 1884 by local philanthropist Edward A. Houseman, and moved to the West Street Green in 1931.
The monument was restored in 1993 after it was struck by a car.
Source: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Art Inventories Catalog
Tags: Danbury
Despite all of the snow in Connecticut, the new P.T. Barnum statue in Bethel shines brightly (thanks to some help)
New Fairfield honors veterans of all wars with a monument on the town green.
The New Fairfield Veterans’ Memorial, located on Pembroke Road (Route 37) just north of the intersection with Brush Hill Road (Route 39), was dedicated on September 20, 1997.
The monument features two granite tablets, a flagpole and a dozen markers listing the country’s major wars.
The east tablet bears a dedication reading, “To those who fought and served to preserve our freedom, this plaque is dedicated to your brave and courageous acts.”
The west tablet honors New Fairfield residents who died fighting in wars starting with two militia members killed during the French and Indian War.
Nine residents are listed for the Civil War; one for World War I; three for World War II; two for Korea; and three for Vietnam.
The green also features a ship’s anchor and a number of benches inscribed with the United States seal.
Tags: New Fairfield
Monroe honors World War I veterans from the Stepney section with a monument on the Stepney Green.
The undated monument, near the intersection of Main Street (Route 25) and Pepper Street, stands at the northern end of the green.
A bronze plaque mounted on a boulder bears the dedication, “In grateful recognition of the valor and devotion of the young men of this community who served in the World War for liberty and justice 1918-1919.”
The monument lists the names of 24 residents who served in the conflict, and highlights two who died.
The Stepney Green was used as a militia ground and public gathering space when settlers from North Stratford settled what would eventually become the town of Monroe. In 1817, the green was officially designated as public land.
The construction of the Housatonic Railroad in the 1840s helped the Stepney area flourish as a local retail and manufacturing center.
In 1861, people opposed to the Civil War gathered on the green for peace rally that was broken up by war supporters.
The green’s surroundings include two churches and an historic cemetery established in 1794.
We’re a bit late on this one, but Bethel dedicated a new statue honoring local son P.T. Barnum in September.
The six-foot statue, by local artist Dave Gesualdi, stands along Greenwood Avenue outside the public library.
The statue, dedicated to mark the 200th anniversary of Barnum’s 1810 birth in Bethel, depicts Barnum raising his hat as he departs the town to seek his fortune.
Barnum’s career would include creating a curiosity museum in New York and the circus that still bears his name, as well as political and charitable contributions to Bridgeport.
We visited Dave’s studio last March, as the sculptor was creating the statue in clay, and were impressed to see the final version in its outdoor setting.
Tags: Bethel
East Hampton honors veterans of World War I and earlier conflicts with plaques on a boulder in its historic village center.
The undated war memorial, at the intersection of Main Street and Summit Street (Route 196), honors veterans of World War I, the Spanish-American War, the Civil War, the War of 1812 and the American Revolution with plaques mounted on a large boulder.
The south face of the monument bears a plaque with a dedication reading, “In honor of East Hampton men and women who served their country in the World War 1917-1918.”
Below the dedication, the plaque lists about 141 names, and indicates four who were killed in the war.
On the monument’s west face, a plaque honoring Civil War veterans bears a dedication reading, “To perpetuate the memory of the men from this township in the Civil War 1861-1865 fought to preserve the Union.”
The plaque further lists about 109 residents who served in the war.
The monument’s north face honors a dozen residents who served in the Spanish-American War.
The east face of the monument honors veterans of the American Revolution and the War of 1812 with a plaque reading, “To the memory of the patriot men of Chatham who bravely bore their part in the War of the American Revolution and the War of 1812 to establish firmly the foundations of our republic and to preserve the liberties which we have inherited.”
The reference to Chatham reflects East Hampton’s former name. The town separated from Middletown in 1767, and was known as Chatham from then until it adopted the East Hampton name in 1915.
The fact that the Civil War and Spanish-American War plaques refer to “this township” probably reflects the name change in the intervening years.
The monument stands in East Hampton’s Belltown Historic District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
East Hampton was a leading center for the manufacture of bells during the 19th Century and the early 20th. According to the 1860 census, nearly half of East Hampton’s 1,766 residents, many of whom were Irish immigrants, worked for one of the town’s 30 bell factories.
Tags: East Hampton
East Lyme honors Civil War veterans with a memorial gateway at the entrance to Union Cemetery on East Pattagansett Road.
The memorial gateway features two granite pillars with bronze plaques on their eastern faces listing local Civil War veterans.
Both pillars bear a dedication reading, “Smith Gateway. Erected by the late Flora M. Smith in memory of her father, Frederick Malcolm Smith, Co. C 26th Reg’t [Connecticut Volunteer Infantry] and the following citizens of the Town of East Lyme who also volunteered for service in the Civil War 1861 – 1865.”
The south pillar bears 43 names, with symbols identifying about nine residents who were killed in the war, as well as those buried in the cemetery. The plaque also identifies African American troops.
The north pillar has similar information about 42 residents.
Eighteen East Lyme residents were killed during their Civil War service.
The plaques are undated, but were dedicated after Flora Smith’s death in 1923. Her father served in the 26th Regiment of the Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, who fought primarily in Louisiana in 1862 and 1863.
East Lyme’s Civil War veterans are honored with a 1926 monument in the historic Old Stone Church Burial Ground.
The cemetery, which was formed in 1719, also has a number of modern markers honoring the graves of residents who served in the French & Indian War, American Revolution, Civil War, and other conflicts.
The Civil War memorial consists of a bronze plaque mounted on a granite slab atop a small hillside in the cemetery. The plaque, on the monument’s east face, bears a dedication reading, “In perpetual remembrance of the men of East Lyme who offered their lives to preserve the Union.”
The plaque also lists the names of 91 residents who served in the Civil War, as well as its dedication date of June 14, 1926.
The relatively late dedication makes the East Lyme memorial one of the state’s last Civil War monuments with a dedication ceremony that could have been attended by veterans of the conflict.
Old Stone Church Burial Ground is at the intersection of Society and Riverview Roads in the Niantic section of East Lyme.
Source: East Lyme Historical Society
Capt. John Johnson (d. 1804), American Revolution veteran, and his wife Amy (d. 1806)
Additional headstone behind the Johnson graves
Reynolds Johnson (d. 1859), American Revolution veteran
Thomas Beckwith (d. 1770) and his wife Sarah (d. 1786)
Elisha Miller (d. 1779), French & Indian War
Frederick Clark (d. 1863), Civil War
Niantic honors veterans of the 20th Century’s wars with two monuments on Liberty Green.
Liberty Green, in the Niantic section of East Lyme, features a World War I Honor Roll as well as an undated memorial honoring veterans lost in World War II, Korea and Vietnam.
The World War Honor Roll bears a dedication reading, “Erected in honor of those who answered their country’s call to serve for God and humanity in the, World War 1917 – 1918, by the citizens of the Town of East Lyme, Conn.”
The Honor Roll lists the names of 114 local veterans, and highlights three who were killed in the conflict.
Next to the World War Honor Roll, a memorial constructed from granite blocks features bronze plaques honoring veterans and heroes of World War II, Korea and Vietnam.
The World War II plaque features the dedication, “A lasting tribute to these men we loved and lost,” and lists 10 names.
The plaque also honors “all our veterans who so bravely fought when our nation was in need.”
The Korea plaque honors one resident who was killed in the conflict.
The Vietnam plaque honors two residents who were killed, and bears a dedication that includes “God bless these men who could give no more.”
Liberty Green, at the intersection of Main Street (Route 156) and Pennsylvania Avenue (Route 161), resulted from a private donation of land in 1918 to create a memorial to the town’s World War veterans.
