West Shore Little League honors veterans with ceremony: updated war monuments

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – About 250 veterans and Staten Islanders headed to the West Shore Little League on Saturday to get a peek at the newly updated veterans monument park.

 by Arnaldo Rodgers

Congressman Michael Grimm, Borough President James Oddo, Assemblyman Michael Cusick and representatives from Council members Stephen Matteo and Debi Rose were in attendance at the unveiling to thank local veterans for their service.

Grimm, a combat veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, said that the monuments should serve as a somber reminder of the human cost of war.

“It’s about honoring their memory,” said Grimm, referring to the soldiers memorialized in the park. “But it’s also about making sure we never ever forget the cost of our freedom and liberty.”

The monument park at the West Shore Little League complex is unique in that it’s the only war memorial in the borough with the names of all Staten Island soldiers who have died during America’s wars, dating back to the Civil War. The league has deep roots in military appreciation. In 1968, the park unveiled its first monument, dedicated to the soldiers fighting in the Vietnam War.

“And that’s when the Vietnam War was very unpopular,” Pastor David A. Watson, of the Calvary Chapel of Staten Island, said. Watson, who considers himself the “unofficial chaplain” of the league, hosted the event.

Veterans in attendance hope the memorial’s location will help teach the children of the league about the lives that were given up in the name of America.

“It’s a wonderful thing to help younger people think about the sacrifices of the past,” said Bob Egan, a Vietnam veteran from Westerleigh.

In 2002, the Little League added a 9/11 memorial and, in 2006, rounded out the park with five additional stones with the names of all fallen Staten Island soldiers.

The stones arch around the back of the Vietnam memorial, which serves as the park’s centerpiece. A few weeks ago, the league completely repaved the monument park with stone that forms a red, white and blue American flag emblem at its center.

“There are two loves of Staten Island: our love for veterans and Little Leagues,” said Assemblyman Cusick, noting the national success of local Little League teams. “To put a monument park in a park where children will be playing every day…[West Shore Little League] is going to make sure that future generations will never forget why we have our freedoms.”

Oddo said the Staten Island community has consistently paid the proper respects to veterans. “If the government treated our vets as well as our Staten Islanders do, we’d be in a better situation,” Oddo told the crowd.

Chuck Tantillo, a director of the league, has worked on improving the monuments for more than 25 years. Tantillo tried hard to stay out of the spotlight, but ceremony speakers repeatedly thanked him. Eventually, he was forced to take the microphone and address his hard work.

“You do it to help your community,” he said, shrugging off his effort. “I make phone calls and aggravate people. They finally get sick of me and say, ‘Okay, we’ll do something.'”