The 4 Chaplains Monument was installed in the park in 2009
On a visit to Eisenhower Park, I went into the the Veterans Memorial section.
To learn more about the 4 Chaplains, read this: http://www.fourchaplains.org/the-saga-of-the-four-chaplains/. You can also read this account of the annual tribute every first Sunday in February, or watch this video
While there are over 300 memorials to their self-sacrifice, it appears that no one has ever dramatized the event.
Should you find yourself in the vicinity of the park, you can see the various memorials in person. They now extend recognition to those outside the usual parameters of army duty that were victimized, including the "Comfort Women."
Some are reminders of some aspects of history that are not included in standard curricula on WWII, like the memorial to the 4 chaplains pictured on top. As reported in The Herald the monument was paid for by Valley Stream resident, Salvatore Spinicchia, a Marine Corps veteran from World War II and the Korean War,
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The information on the memorial is the following:THE FOUR CHAPLAINS, ALSO REFERRED TO AS THE "IMMORTAL CHAPLAINS" OR THE "DORCHESTER CHAPLAINS" WERE FOUR UNITED STATES ARMY CHAPLAINS, LT. GEORGE L. FOX, METHODIST; LT. ALEXANDER D. GOODE, JEWISH; LT. JOHN P. WASHINGTON, ROMAN CATHOLIC; AND LT. CLARK V. POLING, DUTCH REFORMED, WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES TO SAVE OTHER CIVILIAN AND MILITARY PERSONNEL AS THE TROOP SHIP USA DORCHESTER, HIT BY AN ENEMY TORPEDO, SANK ON FEBRUARY 3, 1943, DURING WORLD WAR II. THEY HELPED OTHER SOLDIERS BOARD LIFE BOATS AND GAVE UP THEIR OWN LIFE JACKET WHEN THE SUPPLY RAN OUT. THE CHAPLAINS JOINED ARMS, SAID PRAYERS, AND SANG HYMNS AS THEY WENT DOWN WITH THE SHIP. IN DOING SO, THEY BECAME AN ENDURING EXAMPLE OF EXTRAORDINARY FAITH, COURAGE AND SELFLESSNESS. THE DISTINGUISHED SERVICE CROSS AND PURPLE HEART WERE AWARDED POSTHUMOUSLY DECEMBER 19, 1944, TO THEIR NEXT OF KIN. A POSTHUMOUS SPECIAL MEDAL FOR HEROISM, NEVER BEFORE GIVEN AND NEVER TO BE GIVEN AGAIN, WAS AUTHORIZED BY CONGRESS AND AWARD BY THE PRESIDENT JANUARY 18, 1961.
To learn more about the 4 Chaplains, read this: http://www.fourchaplains.org/the-saga-of-the-four-chaplains/. You can also read this account of the annual tribute every first Sunday in February, or watch this video
While there are over 300 memorials to their self-sacrifice, it appears that no one has ever dramatized the event.
Should you find yourself in the vicinity of the park, you can see the various memorials in person. They now extend recognition to those outside the usual parameters of army duty that were victimized, including the "Comfort Women."
My family used to visit Eisenhower Park when I was a kid. It was a lot of fun as well as having some history. There was a display of a locomotive and some train cars there for a while, and I remember climbing all over the engine. It was a blast.
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