Glen Cove resident Sgt. Ralph W. Young lost his life in WWII. A memorial in Monument Park now honors his service. 

For William Richardson, the granite monument honoring Sgt. Ralph W. Young that was unveiled Saturday is more than a way to pay tribute to a Glen Cove resident killed in World War II.

“Most importantly it represents inclusion,” Richardson said of Young, who was Black. “Going back to the earlier days when we had African Americans who went and fought in these wars only to come back home to a segregated society — it’s very, very important to have Ralph Young included here in Monument Park with all of the other monuments. He certainly was worthy of that.”

About 70 veterans, city officials and others watched Mayor Pamela Panzenbeck help lift a black cloth off the new monument.

“A day of pride for Glen Cove,” Panzenbeck said.

The monument is the third in the park to honor an individual veteran and the first to honor a Black veteran, said Anthony Jimenez, director of the city’s Veterans Affairs office and a member of Young-Simmons American Legion Post 1765 in Glen Cove, which is co-named for Young. Others commemorate groups of veterans — including Black veterans — who served in wars dating to the Civil War.

Young was born in 1922 and grew up in Glen Cove. After graduating from Glen Cove High School, he attended the law school of Lincoln University, a historically Black university in Pennsylvania, on a scholarship and “excelled,” Jimenez said. But he left law school to enlist in the Army.

“The country entered World War II and he felt compelled to enter it also, to do his share,” Jimenez said during the ceremony. “He always did his share.”

Young died on April 11, 1945, when his plane crashed over the Himalaya Mountains in hazardous weather while carrying supplies from India to China, Jimenez said. He was a sergeant major when he died, he said.

“He gave his life for his country doing what he wanted to do, which was protect and serve our country,” Jimenez said.

The city previously named a street after Young. The Young-Simmons American Legion also donated a plaque that sat on the ground in front of police headquarters. However it was becoming worn, Panzenbeck said. As a councilwoman in 2018, she asked that it be moved to Monument Park, to later be restored and made part of a larger tribute, she said. The plaque is now the centerpiece of the monument.

“This honor is long overdue,” Panzenbeck said.

Private donations, primarily from the Glen Cove Rotary Club, paid for the monument, she said.

Craig Osborne, 65, of Glen Cove, a cousin of Young, said “it’s important for any family members who lost someone that they be recognized for their sacrifice.”

David Hubbard, commander of the Young-Simmons post, said the post was founded in the late 1940s for Black veterans and carried Young's name from the beginning. It is now racially mixed.

Hubbard said the monument was a point of pride, particularly for members of the Young family.

“They need to know they’ve got honor in their family,” he said.

By David Olson

david.olson@newsday.com@DavidOlson11

David Olson covers health care. He has worked at Newsday since 2015 and previously covered immigration, multicultural issues and religion at The Press-Enterprise in Southern California.