By Linda Delmonico-Prussen
The memorial listed the soldiers from that community who gave their lives in combat, had been prisoners of war or were listed as missing in action. Ellensohn, who served in the Army infantry and medical corps as well as at the Pentagon during World War II, immediately thought Merrick could and should have an equally fitting monument to recognize area war casualties.
Ellensohn knew precisely where to turn his vision into reality -- American Legion Post 1282. He presented his idea to post members, who loved it, and they quickly got down to work developing plans for the monument's wording and structure. Post Commander Vincent Gabrielle described the effort as "concerted."
Post 1282 is now raising funds for the new marble monument, which will cost between $8,000 and $10,000 and would sit near the Merrick Avenue monument that the post built in recent years, across from the Camp Avenue Elementary School.
The monument, which will measure 5 feet high, 2 feet wide and 10 inches thick, will list veterans' names on brass plaques, each of which will cost about $65. In addition to memorializing veterans of wars past, the monument will have space for names of local casualties in any future conflicts.
Gabrielle, who served at the Navy's Combat Information Center in World War II, said the current monument on Camp Avenue took 14 months to build from the time it was conceived until it was dedicated in .
Gabrielle hopes the new monument can be finished by Memorial Day 2004. And he said of the memorial site -- a once-unused green off to the side of the road -- "We like to think we've turned a useless piece of real estate into something the community can be proud of." Gabrielle hopes community members will support the new monument by making tax-deductible donations to help cover construction costs.
Robert Weiboldt, who taught aerial gunnery in the Army Air Force during World War II, is helping with the effort to build the new memorial. He recalled a monument that he built after returning to Merrick from war and joining the post during the 1940s. He constructed the memorial, which housed the names of veterans who died in World War II, of wood and glass. Its site was the former Christy-Wolf Insurance Company building, which is now an office on Benson Lane in downtown Merrick. The monument remained there until the late 1970s or early '80s, Weiboldt believes, when it was moved to Merrick Avenue and Sunrise Highway near the train station. The former Merrick Lions Club maintained it until it was removed.
Anyone wishing to offer donations for the new monument should call Gabrielle at 481-4119, Walter Ellensohn at 378-3171 or Robert Tom Riordan at 546-8765.
