New Hyde Park Finds New Way Honoring Fallen for Memorial Day

The Village of New Hyde Park is paying tribute to the 56 men who lost their lives in service to their country in the armed forces during WWI, WWII, as well as the Korean and Vietnam Wars in a new way this year, by displaying their names on the electronic billboard outside the village hall at the southwest corner of Jericho Turnpike and New Hyde Park Road.

The servicemen from New Hyde Park have had their names displayed on the message board throughout the month of May in between the words “Lest We Forget, NHP Honors” and “Killed in Action.” The sign displays about five different names per day.

At the May 21 meeting of the village board, New Hyde Park Deputy Mayor Lawrence Montreuil felt that it was “poignant to remember that these were very young men and very much in many cases young men in their early twenties and some teenagers. These were kids that were barely out of our high school.”

A total of eight of the men listed were from New Hyde Park Memorial High School. Others were graduates of Sewanhaka High School before New Hyde Park Memorial was constructed.

“We all hope that we won’t add another name to that list but please, let’s not forget those people that are on that list,” Montreuil said. “They are kids from our neighborhoods on our streets, went to our schools, and we may be living in some of their houses or on the same blocks as them. Unfortunately they weren’t able to come back to New Hyde Park and live out their lives as we have.”

The annual Memorial Day parade will be held in the village on Saturday, May 25 beginning at 10 a.m. at Hillside Boulevard, marching east along Jericho Turnpike to the village hall where a small ceremony will take place and the parade will then march north on New Hyde Park Road toward Memorial Park where it will conclude with a ceremony at the monument in the park.

Residents are encouraged to come out and attend the parade as attendance has declined in recent years.

“This is a very important part of our yearly calendar as it is in many communities across the country,” Montreuil said. “This is a time where the community sets aside that time to honor the people from our neighborhood who lost their lives in wars throughout the corse of history.”

Get New Hyde Park news on Facebook