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Vietnam War Memorial Dedicated to Fallen Queens Soldiers to be Unveiled at Elmhurst Park

Rendering (Parks Department)

Dec. 11, 2019 By Kristen Torres

A new memorial honoring Vietnam War veterans will be unveiled in Elmhurst Park later this month.

The memorial will feature the names of 371 Queens service members who died during the Vietnam War or are classified as “missing in action,” according to Queens Borough President Melinda Katz.

The memorial, which has gone up on the northwest corner of the park, will be the first of its kind dedicated to the fallen and lost Vietnam War solders from Queens.

According to Katz, Queens is home to nearly 59,000 veterans — more than any other borough. The memorial’s construction was spearheaded by the late President of the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 32, Pat Toro.

“Prior to his passing in 2014, the Marine Corps veteran was a staunch advocate for a boroughwide memorial to recognize the sacrifices made by hundreds of Queens residents and their families during the Vietnam War,” said a statement by Katz’s office.

The memorial’s design and construction was fully funded by Katz, totaling nearly $2.9 million.

A ribbon cutting ceremony for the memorial will take place Friday, Dec. 20 at 10 a.m.

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9 Comments

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Maspic ny

They made this beautiful park in maspeth/Elmhurst to improve and beautify the area, but they are letting the surrounding neighborhood go. It’s like a slum. The people who are moving in this area are rapidly ruining it

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President Bone Spurs

I played football in college but my feet hurt so I dodged the draft.

Glad to see people that are much more patriotic than a draft-dodger be honored this way.

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Credit is due

RIP Pastor “Pat” Toro…taken away from us too early by cancer he contracted from exposure to Agent Orange during his service in Vietnam….Thank you for never giving up and always remembering your fallen comrades

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Person that voted for the draft-dodger president

We should ridicule gold star families like Trump did, but otherwise respect and honor our military.

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Slick willy

Orange man should have fled the country like me and went to England…better to be a draft dodger than have a medical condition…

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JH4Life

A Vietnam War Memorial in Queens is long overdue. Will be making a visit to pay my respects to our fallen.

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15
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Mac

There is a memorial in Woodside by St.Sebastian Church on 58th Street and Roosevelt Ave dedicated to Vietnam Veterans of Woodside (zip code 11377) which had the most Vietnam fatalities of any postal code in the country.

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