From Farm Land To A Historic Site

Most Rockland residents know about Camp Shanks, the largest Port of Embarkation in the Unites States during WW II for troops from all over our nation destined to be shipped overseas to fight the nazi army.

Over 1.3 million GIs passed through Camp Shanks on their way to North Africa and Great Britain [England, Wales, Scotland & Northern Ireland] to await the invasion of France on D-Day.

But the story does not end there.

After the end of the war in 1945, it became our nation’s largest Veterans’ housing program, maybe the largest in the world.

Fast forward from 1945 to 1955 when most of the 2,300 acre property was parceled off in many ways. And all that remained was about 15 acres which were used as one of the 4 Nike Missile bases in Rockland and Westchester Counties that housed surface-to-air missiles to defend New York from Soviet bombers during the Cold War.

There were 19 bases around New York City

When that program close in 1974, A Special Forces made the vacant missile base buildings their home until replaced by Company B of 845 Engineering Battalion of the 411 Engineering Brigade of the US Army. It was a combat engineer brigade headquartered in New Windsor.

I don’t know the specific dates, but the property was eventually totally abandoned and an unofficial destination for all kinds of mischief.

Then one day, the Federal Government declared it surplus and available to any not-for-profit organization which would use it to serve the homeless. There were many New York Counties and private agencies involved in serving the homeless which showed interests in the leasing the 15 acres, especially since as Federal property, it was not subject to Orangetown zoning and building constraints.

As a local resident with a decades long passion and success for integrating special needs housing into our community in a non-destructive fashion and as a former US Marine interested in our military history and Veterans, I co-founded a not-for-profit 501[c]3 charity that would abide to all of Orangetown’s constraints, as well as creating a living memorial to those Veterans who never came home to Camp Shanks, “Last Stop USA”.

We successfully applied for the Lease.

In 2013, the “Rockland Homes For Heroes” opened the doors of 8 permanent affordable supportive one-bedroom apartments for homeless Veterans.

Soon after we worked with the Federal Government to convert our Lease to a Deed and transfer half the 15 acres to the Orangetown Government to construct a surface storm water containment program to end the flooding of the Sparkill Creek.

Now we are in the process of adding 14 more permanent affordable supportive apartments to help end veteran homelessness in the Mid-Hudson Valley’s 6 counties served by the Veteran’s Administration Hudson Valley Health Care System.

To learn more about this mission, please visit www.rocklandhomesforheroes.org.

Federal property, it was not subject to Orangetown contains

Special Forces Unit

Company B of 845 Engineering Battalian of 411 Engineering Brigade of the US Army

Rockland Homes For Heroes - 8 homes opened on Veterans Day 2013 -

14 more to be constructed in 2020-2021