More than 400 veterans' names added to Walls of Honor in Eisenhower Park
John Maywald, 77, of Bayville, with his family, found his name Saturday on the Walls of Honor at Eisenhower Park. Credit: Rick Kopstein
U.S. Army veteran Stirling Soukup steadied himself with a cane — a small American flag tucked in his back pocket — as he approached the Walls of Honor at Veterans Memorial Plaza inside Eisenhower Park.
There, along Row G, on the left of panel No. 108, was inscribed his name.
“It feels that at least you’re acknowledged,” the 82-year-old said moments before he saw his name for the first time on the wall.
Soukup, who served in a military police company and who now lives in Copiague, was one of 440 service members to have their name engraved onto stainless steel panels mounted on granite walls as a remembrance and acknowledgment of veterans.
The Nassau County Veterans Monument Fund’s ceremony Saturday morning drew nearly 1,000 people to the memorial plaza in East Meadow for the unveiling of the latest names. They join the more than 11,000 names that have been inscribed since the early ’90s, according to Morris Miller, the national education program director for the Veterans of the Vietnam War Inc. & The Veterans Coalition.
Miller, who emceed the ceremony, said around 300 to 400 names are added yearly, representing all branches of the military. Some of the veterans are still on active duty, he said. There’s a $100 donation that covers the cost of adding the name, and extra funds are used to maintain the grounds, he said. Eligibility was recently narrowed from all veterans to Nassau County residents.
From left, Maureen Tierney, of Vero Beach, Florida, and Mage Napolitano, of North Merrick, near the names of their husbands at the Walls of Honor. Credit: Rick Kopstein
One name on the wall dates to the Revolutionary War, Miller said. Others are represented from the Civil War and the Spanish-American War.
Many of the latest veterans added come from the Vietnam War era.
As the ceremony, which included the singing of "God Bless America," the playing of taps and a rifle salute, the veterans and family members crowded the walls to pose for photos and reflect.
A rock left atop one section of wall featured a heart drawn underneath the word "Dad."
Frank Amalfitano, the president and CEO of United Veterans Beacon House, a Bay Shore nonprofit that provides shelter to homeless veterans, had his name added this year.
“It’s what a veteran always wants: to be remembered, not forgotten,” the Vietnam vet said.
Veterans and family members gather for the ceremony Saturday at Eisenhower Park. Credit: John Scalesi
Alison Hoffman, of Babylon, one of Soukup’s three daughters, said her father’s name was added to a section that includes other members of her mother’s family.
She said her late mother, Rita, had wished to see her husband’s name added to the wall. Soukup attended last year's ceremony and added his name to a raffle for a veteran to be added to the wall at no cost. He won.
“I would have bought it anyway,” Soukup said.
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